An Unsharpened Blade
by Kitana Blade
Summary: I was left beaten and battered. I've been found by a hero passing by. This is my journey discovering everything anew and finding myself dumbfounded by ways people live. From there, I get to leaps hurdles I've avoided and run a new race. This is my story.
1. Chapter 1 - Prologue

**This is my first TRUE story I've written out. I think of a bunch all the time but never write them down, jus' store 'em in my good ol' cranium. I'm ****extremely**** open for critiquing! I plan for this to be lengthy, so stay around for the whole ride, no? By the way, this may contain a LOT of 'explicit' language. It'll tone down in the future, don't worry. **

In a few days. Only a few more days. How many days have passed? I don't know. The Voice told me I'd get something new in a few days. Whenever I question what it is, The Voice dismisses me, scolds me, and sends the shocks through my body. It hurts. Do I like it here? What am I? Who am I? What if I asked The Voice to explain them to me? Would The Voice kill me?

"V-Voice…" I mumble, "Who… Who am I?" is all I mutter. I wait for a response, but I just hear the echoes of my voice bellow throughout the Galaxy. Where is The Voice?

"You are…" There's a pause. Is it thinking? Can The Voice think? "SUBJECT ZERO POINT FIVE" Subject 0.5. Why am I a number? Where is Subject Zero? Did they die from the shocks? The beatings? The… the tests? Am I the first? Am I the test subject of a test subject? It makes my brain hurt. Maybe I should just sleep. Yes, sleep. That's what I need. The Voice said sleep is good, but if I sleep too much, the Others will kill me. Others. Who are they? I wish I could see them. The world is black, says The Voice. The Voice teaches me things. Colors, shapes, speech, all of it. How many people are in the Galaxy? I have to stop questioning. Maybe some other time will be new.

When I wake, I wake to the usual noise, silence. I always wondered what the Galaxy looked like. From what I've felt, the Galaxy is small. Maybe if I walk as far as the chains allow, I can get a glimpse of the Galaxy. As I stand, the noise of rattling metal fill the room with an eerie sound. The rough 'concrete,' as the voice calls it, under my battered and bloody heels. I start to walk forward. One step, two… three… four… five... and almost to six when I hear the popping of electricity.

"NO!" is all I manage to scream before the shocks fill my body, making my blood rush. It's very energizing. This isn't a disciplinary shock, this is a combat shock. There's footsteps in the Galaxy. Where do they come from? Whose foot steps are they? I breathe in the air with one solid inhale to smell my enemies. They can see and hear me. I can smell and hear them. I have the elements on my side. I have been waiting for enemies for a while, and none would surface. I love killing them. Everything about it, everything but the smell. The smell of blood is horrible, but you stop noticing after a few days. That's it… only a few more days. I inhale again. I smell a blue one, Asari, and two of the diverse ones, Humans. I hear the beep, sliding metal, and the noise of my chains unhinging. The Voice taught me how to kill. I'm glad.

"C'mere, bitch. There's going to be extra credits in our pockets after this," says a female, "I don't want to lose them now." After that short line, I hear the fire of a Kessler pistol. Hahne-Kedar. Cheap stuff. I hear another that snaps me out of my daydream. This is going to be fun. I use my left hand and use it to charge my body full of electricity and use it to cling to the walls. Metal walls, fun stuff. I run all the way to where the top of the Galaxy is. Step one, scare the living shit out of them. I laugh, as manically as I can muster.

"Dammit, Shi'Raz, what the FUCK have you gotten us into? You said we were going to kill a little bitch, not demon spawn!" Human. Male. His scent is where the voice is from. I hear more shuffling. The human has soloed himself from the other two. Time for step two, psychologically fear them. Save the mentally worst one for last. I use the force of electricity to bolt down to him. I feel as fast as a bullet. He starts screaming when I use my right hand and grab his face, practically melting it in my hand. I move my hand to his throat and heat up my hands as much as I can. The Voice calls this heat 'fire'. I feel my hand gradually seep together, slowly smoldering anything that was considered to be skin that was in the way. I feel the warm blood run down my arm as I lift him up and chuck him near the feminine voice. Last prey.

"Hold on, I'm… What… What the…" Is what the feminine voice says as she realizes that I'm no ordinary 'bitch', "C'mere you little bitch, I'm going rip yo-" I slam into her. Less speed then from the top of the Galaxy, but fast enough to knock the breath out of her lungs. I hear another Kessler pistol go off the second I hit her. I feel enough pain in my shoulder to cripple but I shake it off. I quickly snatch the pistol from the feminine voice, now confirmed Asari, and shoot the human who shot me until the gun overheats. Once the body makes a splat on the ground, I turn to the Asari, grabbing her face. Fucking arm, it hurts like a bitch from the shot. I'm not going to kill her like this.

"Fuck. You. I'm not going to scream. I'm not doing that shit," she says with obvious concern in her voice, "I'm not stooping down to your level. I'm not a _monster_." _Monster_. That's what I am. A monster. I move my hand to her neck and chuck away the Kessler.

"Who sent you? Why did they send you?" I ask. I'm going to get the information The Voice withheld one way or another.

She spits in my face, "Fuck you," she says venomously. I heat up my hands a bit so she gets the idea, then slam her head on the ground. First a monster, now this. I'm done. She's going to die.

"FUCKIN' TELL ME WH-" is all I make out before I feel a sharp pain in my neck. No. No, no, no, no, no, no. NO! So close! I move both my hands to her head. The second she starts squirming I just hold her head there. "Shi'Raz…" is all I mutter before the sleep overcomes me and I fall next to the Asari. She kicks me away and I just lay there. Paralyzed. Sleepy and paralyzed.


	2. Chapter 2 - Subjects

**A/N: Very shaky beginning. I mean, VERY shaky beginning. I'm figuring out what the site saves from Microsoft Word, how to manage Chapters, all that good stuff. Apparently, Word doesn't save much. Yay (sarcasm). Chapter 1 was pretty much a trial run, this is the real stuff, so pay attention, kiddies! Remember: The vulgar language being passed around is going to dampen in the future. Don't worry. If you're ever going to use Word, note that it does NOT save programmed dividers. Damn Word, and all of Microsoft… well, not all. Just that portion.**

**################## **

Chapter 2

As I wake, my head is pounding and I'm bound to the wall of the Galaxy. The last fight is hazy in my mind. I remember burning the one human's throat and shooting the other… How did I kill the Asari? Shi'la? I'ra? I forget. The usual silence is still lingering. Why didn't she answer the questions? Fear… why wasn't it working? It always works. Fear runs everything. Maybe those are the Outsiders that The Voice speaks of all the time. Where do they come from? The Voice has taught me that where I am is the Galaxy and it is here and here alone. I don't understand. I have to question The Voice. Maybe The Voice will finally tell me. Does _fear_ work on The Voice? I get up off my now bleeding knees. Stupid jagged concrete. As I stand I hear the popping and jolt back down. Nothing happened. I'll just have to ask from this uncomfortable position.

"Voice?" I barely manage to even whisper. My throat and lungs feel like they've been fried.

"Yes?" The Voice replies in her average monotone voice. It never changes. Never.

"What… What am I?"

Pause… Is the Voice thinking? Thinking of lying? Thinking of confessing? "SUBJE-"

"No, Voice," I say stronger as I stand up. "I don't think you understand me. What am I?" Sheesh, this hurts. I hear the popping and again fall to my knees. The top half of my body now totally reliant on the wall chains. I'm putting no effort to stay up… Wait… Why do I keep going back down? I'm… am I afraid? What is fear? I never experienced it before. Is this it? Am I _afraid_ of getting hurt? No. I won't be controlled by fear. I use the wall shackles to pull my weight up off the ground and balance myself on my weight. Whatever's left of it, that is. I stand there.

"Down, 0.5!" I hear a masculine voice say. I hear the pops and stay up. Every pop makes me wince in expectation. Nothing is happening. Then, all of a sudden, electricity starts coursing through my body, my veins, everything. I just fall to the ground with a loud thud. Horrible idea. Everything hurts. Arms, legs, head, especially the bullet hole in my shoulder that feels like it's had a half-ass repair job. I'm not afraid. I'm just stupid. And I'm sure as hell stupid enough to do it again. What's there to lose, anyway?

"Fuck… You…" is all I mutter. I'm panting and breathing hard. It's hard to breathe as is from whatever happened to my lungs, and now I have this. It just hurts. I start to stand back up.

"Stay down or we are authorized to keep you down," says the masculine voice again, "and you don't want us to do that." Us, Us, _Us_. There's more than one. Oh, to all the subtle hints you're giving. I reach the top of my stand and hear the popping again.

"Final warning," he says. It sounds almost Turian. It possibly is, "get down." No. No, no, no, no.

"No." I whisper at first. Barely audible to be, but apparently this male, presumably Turian, heard it because it sends another bolt, twice as strong yet again knocking me off balance. I stand back up immediately. No way is this happening. They can't hurt me. I'm in my own separate Galaxy.

"No," I say much louder this time, "no, no, no, no, NO!" I sound almost demanding. Demanding them to shut the fuck up. I feel the heat in my hands. What? The Voice said I was only able to use this when I was given drugs to. I don't understand. It doesn't matter. I start to pull down on the chains. Heating one with my right hand, my left one just stays there. It's barely movable from the shot.

"You asked for it," says the Turian sound extremely happy. Happy? Has a few more days passed? The Voice said I've been in this Galaxy for a few days. In a few days I'll be getting my surprise. I hear metal crashing around and something slam into the wall of the Galaxy. I feel something sturdy touch under my chin. It smells of steel. I wonder what it is, and what it's for.

"You're going to regret everything you just did," says the Turian angrily, "You're going to fucking regret it!" I feel the steel object get swiped from underneath my chin, making my head immediately drop. When it's down, I feel a solid bolt hit my on the top of my head. I scream in pain, but to no avail for mercy. He lands another on my left shoulder. Right at the shot. The pain makes my eyes moisten. I'm not going to cry. No, not now. Not ever. I'm too strong for this. I'm dazed just sitting here on my knees. I hear him say things in another language, Turian probably, and hear more footsteps. Oh fuck, reinforcements. I'm too weak for this. The first Turian drops my chains while the other surround me. I get into a ball on the ground and brace for impacts. 'What's there to lose?' Yeah. Right.

**################## **

How long have I been laying here? Who cares? I'm in too much pain to move anyway. I just lay here, covered in warm sticky stuff. Blood. My blood. I wonder what it's like in another Galaxy. I start to do the only thing there is to do. Listen to the silence… Silence. My best friend. What I rely on when there's nothing else to do. I wave my hand around in the puddle of blood as it seeps into the floor below me. Blood is red, as far as The Voice told me. But as far as I know, The Voice is a liar. A big fucking liar. Then I start to listen to the silence, attempting to piece together everything I know. I never thought this way before. I only listen and did as told. No thinking was required. When was I born? How long ago was my last meal? Food… Water… I miss both of those things. The daily meal of Varren meat. I love that stuff. Water came in through the top of the Galaxy, considering the last time they gave me a glass bottle I blew it up with heat and almost killed myself.

"Evacuate. Evacuate. Evacuate. Breech on Docking Bay 7. Breech on Docking Bay 7." Says a high-pitched monotone voice. I'm too weak to move. I just lay here, hoping the breech on… Wait. Breech on Docking Bay 7? What's a Docking Bay? The Voice never told me these things. I don't understand. Oh well. Hopefully nothing bad will happen. Not that bad. Not bad to me, I hope everyone who beat me just died. Murdered. By me. That way, it spares them from dying from my hands. They REALLY won't enjoy that. I start to hear shouting from Outer-Galaxy, which is what I named it, and shooting. A shit-ton of shooting.

**################## **

The whole time I was just laying here. Seeping in and out of consciousness. The metal doors, which is probably the entrance to my Galaxy, slam open. Oh shit, no more. No more. I can't take it. I have to plead. Unless I am willing to die for something as stupid as standing up, I can't. Self-preservation instincts kick in.

"I'm sorry… please… just stop. I'll listen to you," I take a gigantic inhale. I can barely breathe, "I promise to listen to The Voice… and…" I just stop. I can't breathe anymore. I can barely even smell the over-powering stench of blood. So much blood. All I can do is listen. Listen to what the Turian has to say and hope it's not a death sentence.

"Shepard. Shepard! Get over here, now!" says a strong feminine voice. I hear footsteps hastily run to me with the sound of heavy metal with each step. She's armored, and probably getting more people… Like the Turian.

"No…" I mutter, "Stop," I can't keep talking. I'm out of breath. I start to inhale and exhale rapidly. This is it. I never got to see the Galaxy. Why this? Why now? No. This isn't fair. To be more accurate, this isn't right. I feel a hand get placed on my left shoulder, since I'm lying on my other one still in a ball on the ground.

"Don't worry," She says in a comforting voice… _comfort_… "My name is Ashley, I'm here to help."

What if she's like The Voice?

**################## **

**A/N: Ah hah! So another chapter done! I have a lot of ideas for this. It seems like it's going slow, I know, but don't worry. It'll pick up soon. The intros are always the most boring. To both movies, games, books, you name it. It's when everything is introduced and the, in this case reader, is figuring things out. Everything will soon be said. Just hold yer' horses. I promise things are going to get a lot more interesting. There's still so much to do.**


	3. Chapter 3 - Dreaming

Chapter 3

I've been laying here for so long. The woman besides me keeps telling me things but I can't hear her. There's just so much ringing in my ears she's just making it worse. I can't tell her that though, or unless I want to risk dying from lack of Oxygen. Fuck, it's hard to breathe.

"Shepard? Where are you? Get over here with Kaiden, Now!" She yells. Is she still talking to me? Is my name Shepard? No. It can't be. I'm Subject 0.5. It's all Subject 0's fault. All of this. If not for Subject Zero, this wouldn't have ever happened. I feel so… Cold. Why am I so cold? I start listening to the gunfire to keep my mind off of my health, just to hear all gunfire suddenly stop.

"Hell, yeah!" Says a masculine voice.

"Jeez, calm down Shepard, it wasn't _that_ exciting, was it now?" Says another. Okay, so I know who Shepard is. Not me.

"Alright, I submit to your charming attitude, Mr. Alenko." Alenko? What a peculiar name… I hear the shuffling of footsteps once again, but this time towards me.

"Oh, shit! Ash, why didn't you call me in sooner?" Shepard asks, "I could have gotten here sooner. Before this."

"She's not dead, but close to it. And I _did_ tell you," Ashley replies venomously, "You were too freakin' busy getting a damn adrenaline rush! Get her on the Normandy, now!" Maybe she's the leader, she sure sounds like one.

"Not everyone is cleared out, so Shepard and I will guard you while you carry her," Alenko says sternly. Professional mask is on, like me when it comes to 'kill everyone in my Galaxy' time, "Is she conscious? Like, awake I mean?"

"I was talking to her but-" Starts Ashley, but is too soon cut off by Shepard who sounds all too amused.

"Then she's _definitely_ asleep." He replies. He's having all too much fun while I bleed out all over the place. Great. I hear Alenko giggle a bit.

"Let's move. Now." She says, in all seriousness unlike the joking Shepard. What's a Shepard? Is he human? Is Ashley an Asari? I don't know. I wish I was in better condition to smell. I feel someone's hands gently pick me up. The lift is, to put it lightly, EXTREMELY fucking painful. But once I'm elevated the pain seems to leave a bit. My legs dangle on the left while I ball up the top half of my body onto her chest and lay there. Just about the most comfortable position you can get while you're like this.

##################

How long has it been since I left my Galaxy? Oh yeah, never. I was hoping my leave in the Galaxy was in better condition then this. This is horrible. I am just laying here helplessly as everyone else is fighting. I want to fight and kill every single person in this fucking Outer-Galaxy.

"It's okay, don't worry," Ashley whispers into my ear, "We'll protect you, I promise." As simple as that sentence was, it has real feeling behind it. As if she means it. No. She doesn't. Nobody keeps a promise. A promise not to lie is a lie itself, and all other promises to follow are a duplicate of the previous. The Voice promised me something in a few days. I was young when she said that. Only 2,191 sleeps old, as I was told. Now I'm about 7,304 sleeps old. How many sleeps are in a day? Maybe these people know. If only I had enough breath to ask. I hear a stray bullet ping off of Ashley's armor, probably a sniper.

"Crap!" She yells as she stumbles forward and my head slams onto a wall of Outer-Galaxy. Fuck. That hurt like a bitch. Weird though, everything is muffled now, as if I'm sleeping. Suddenly, I can't breathe at all. What is this? Blood? No, it's not viscous enough. It's water. Why am I in water? I swim to the surface. Where am I? I was just curled up half dead but now I'm fine. What just happened? I start swimming forward. I think this is North… or South… or East… or West… I don't know where I'm going. I just know I need to go this way. All of a sudden something is pulling me back. Am I going the wrong way? I turn my head and listen to silence on that end. I swim a bit further and hear Ashley, Shepard, and Alenko all yelling at each other. What's going on? My feet are skimming the surface of floor below. The rough concrete floor below. No. I'm not going back down there. Since I can't swim, I need to use it as support. My definition of 'swimming' is moving my arms in my 'forward' direction and jump on the floor below me to propel forward. The current is pulling me back though. Breathing is easier as it pulls me back… Silent… calm… peacef- No. I'm not going to go there easily. I jump harder, putting more pressure on my legs. Pain is slowly resurfacing all around my skin. My muscles ache, my head hurts, and my left arm feels like the damn thing is going to fall off. I feel for something, anything, and I reach dry land. As I lay on the sand there is heat raying on my face. It feels so nice. Warmth. I always thought it was just when I was in battle. The blood, my hand, I thought that was as warm as I could get. Now this. I like Outer-Galaxy.

##################

Suddenly, reality snaps back and I feel myself being rocked back and forth by someone.

"C'mon, c'mon! Wake up! You're not dying on me, not now!" Says Shepard, "Ash, What the hell happened?"

"I-I was running but-" she starts to say, but she stop half sentence and I hear sniffling. I guess this is my queue.

"I… here…" I say. Fuck, I almost forgot about my breathing problem right now. What's up with my lungs, anyway?

I hear shuffling footsteps and a large drop. Someone wraps their arms around my neck. I was propped up on a wall this whole time and I didn't even notice it. I must by really weak. I hate this. I'm supposed to be strong, in fact, I was created to be strong. I'm Subject 0.5, and I was made to kill everybody. I don't know why I haven't killed these guys.

"Okay, she has a voice, but we need here on the Normandy, pronto." Says Alenko. Valid point, I don't want to be here anymore. Is the Normandy a Galaxy too? I wonder…

I feel my weight being lifted again, this time by someone bigger. I let myself go limp. I can't move anymore. "Move, people!" is all I hear before I phase out. Dammit, I'm tired.

##################

I'm on this sandy area. I think it's called a beach, but I forget. I feel around in the warm sand letting it move in between my fingers. I'm just laying here on my back playing with sand. It's so warm. Who needs to move? I start to hear the voices again, but I hear someone older. Someone much older than Ashley, Alenko, and Shepard.

"Who is she?" Says the older voice.

"I don't know. I managed to grab all the files on her and the facility. It's called Teltin 2." Says Shepard. _Teltin 2_. I'm going to go back there, and I'm going to finish everyone else off. I'm going to kill them all. The sand goes cold, and so does the air. Why cold again?

"Everyone out, this is a doctor's duty! If you prefer her to be alive, I suggest you leave, now," says the older woman again. Who is she? What does she want with me?

Ever since it got cold again, I've been thinking. What if The Voice told me the truth about things? Some things, that is. What if I asked her what is Teltin 2? Where was I in Outer-Galaxy? Is Teltin a Galaxy? Why did I start questioning myself and everything all of a sudden? Oh, great. I just asked a question about asking question. This isn't going anywhere. I have no answers and nothing to feed answers from. Mine as well explore this beach. I stand up, a bit wobbly, but standing. Weird, I was fine earlier but all of a sudden I feel weak again. Not weak enough to keep me down, but weak enough to feel it. Forward is this way, if I'm not mistaken. As I walk, the sand in my toes gets colder and colder. Am I walking the wrong way? Maybe if I go back, I can feel warm again. Part of me wants to explore this dark, dark, sandy Galaxy, the other wants to go back and be warm again. Exploring it is.

I hear noises of animals I do not recognize, some hissing and growling. All of a sudden something furry bumps into me. It's so soft and warm I stop in my tracks to feel it. It growls as I rub its head, but not an angry one, more of a pleased one. It starts nudging me forward again. Why does this animal wish me to continue? I feel its face pressed up against mine. I take a sharp inhale. I can smell again, and I believe this species is called a 'wolf'. The Voice gave me many smells to remember. Some The Voice put in my head from implants, other things The Voice gave through samples. All the same to me. It grabs my armband, the one that controls my blood flow and turns it into "Black Matter" as The Voice called it. Sometimes called "Black Eezo." It depended on the one saying it. The wolf starts dragging me forward. Suddenly, I feel the warmth just out of my reach.

"I can't make it," I say, "I'm too weak. Go, wolf, you can do it."

Suddenly, the wolf leaps behind me and starts to push me forward. It's not leaving without me, and I'm not letting it suffer here. I use the wolf's back as a kind of support and push myself off the ground, keeping my hands firmly on the wolf as it precariously walks me forward. Every time I stumble, it stops to help me back up. Almost there… _A few more days… that's it, a few more days and I'll reach it._ No. No more days. I'm going to reach it now. I start to pick up the pace, gradually moving at least a little faster. Just before I reach the warmth, I stumble on my own feet and fall.

"FUCK! NO! I'm making this, and I'm making it now!" I yell to encourage myself. Well, that's sad. I have to encourage myself because I'm alone with a wolf. Suddenly, the wolf licks my face, which is a sign of caring I assume, and runs back to the darkness. Why won't the wolf come with me? Where is it going? I crawl the last area there is to the warmth and I hear the eerie, yet encouraging, howl of the wolf behind me. I made it.

I actually fucking made it.

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**A/N: And then there was an end to Chapter 3! 1,897 words so far. Wow. I just keep writing. I prefer each chapter to be long, not lengthy and dragged out, just long. When I find a fic/book I absolutely LOVE I never want it to end. So, here you go! Well, I don't know if you like it **_**that**_** much, but if you do. I love you. In case you're not understanding this whole Galaxy thing, The Voice taught 'Subject 0.5' that the only place ever is her cell, that way it diminished her wanting to escape. I seems a bit confusing, but Subject 0.5 doesn't know what a 'world/planet' is, since she was raised knowing ONLY Galaxies. Hopefully she's a fast learner, no?**

**P.S.: The 'sleeps' thing is just calculated days into years. Since The Voice never taught her what a day was, they calculated it into 'sleeps.' Since you averagely sleep once a day (excluding naps) you can look up her age. :3**

** -Rogue **


	4. Chapter 4 - Colors

Chapter 4

Fuck, my head hurts. How long have I been out? I take a heavy inhale. Air. I never thought I could miss it so much. What happened anyway? I remember the warm sand… and… yep, that's it. Oh wait, and the struggle it was to get there. That was a bitch. I wonder what this Normandy Galaxy feels like.

"Hey, it looks like someone's finally awake." I hear that feminine voice say from earlier. Ashlyn, was it? No, something else… Ashley! That's it.

"I know she needs to rest, but I must do a few tests," says the older woman, "so will you be staying here, Chief Williams, are will you be leaving?" Chief Williams? I thought it was Ashley.

"It's Ash to you, and yes. As long as you're not slicing and dicing I'll stay here." Ashley says with a slight laugh. Wait, so she's Chief Williams and Ashley? This is too confusing. Since she prefers Ash, it's going to be Ash for now on.

I feel someone open my eye lid and a click of something. I assume this is the older woman, at least I know Ash and her scents now.

"Hm, that's strange. By any chance… Ms…" she starts but doesn't finish. My name isn't Miss, it's Subject 0.5, as far as I know.

"We don't know her name, but Shepard is looking through the files." Replies Ash quickly. Almost too quickly. Why's she look out for me so much?

"Thank you, Chei- Ashley," she corrects herself, though sounding agitated at that, "anyway, can you see at all?"

I start to think of all the colors I have seen in person. I saw… black. Lot's o' black, but nothing else. I just shake my head which is, from what The Voice told me, is 'no.'

I feel her hold open my eyes harder, they are begging to get dry and it's really uncomfortable to be like this. I don't even know what kind of floor I'm lying on. It smells unfamiliar. Suddenly she starts moving something on my eyeball and I instinctively push her back and stand upright on the floor. It's so soft and plushy. I take a step or two forward before I suddenly bash into the ground under me. Fuck. I was elevated the whole time. My entire body starts to hurt again. Bad move, Subject 0.5.

"Calm down," says Ash behind me, "she's okay. Just trust me enough to trust her." _Trust_. That is fake. There is no trust, but I go along with it anyway. I, painfully, hop back onto the soft elevated area and lay back down. No sense on struggling anymore, considering I don't know what will happen if I do.

I feel the movement again and something sliding off my eye. All of a sudden, my entire eye fills with a bright light. _Light_. I always thought it was fake. It burns, I know that. I cover my eye, then let a little more light in in between my fingers, close them, and repeat until I can see clearly. I keep my seeing eye closed until the older woman slides off my other sight blocker, and I repeat with my left eye. As I lay on this soft plushy area, I put my hands into the sky and just stare. "_Color,"_ is all I say. That's all that I need to say. I can see. I sit up slowly, taking in everything. There's grey, steel walls. This soft area is white. The older woman has whitish grey hair. My skin matches hers, but slightly tanner. I look down at myself and realize I'm only in a bra and underwear, but I don't care. I can see. I can see things.

#############################

"Your… Your eyes," says the older woman, "they're… Ashley, come look at this."

Ash sighs, presumably at the use of 'Ashley' not 'Ash' and comes walking over. She has black hair in a bun on the top of her head, a nose that differs from the mental images of humans I've seen, and pinkish cheeks. I think that's called make-up, some of the humans in Outer-Galaxy used to talk about it when they thought I was sleeping. "Woah…" is all she mutters as I look at her in her eyes. Her eyes are a dark brown, very inviting and not threatening like I imagined.

I just stare at her. I have no idea why they're looking at me so awkwardly. What's wrong with my eyes? My eyes start to wonder around the room again just looking at whatever, when I hear the door behind me open, and I jump into combat position with my right hand blazing with… _fire_… It's so pretty… I just start to stare at it before I feel someone pull back my hand and pour something on it, I think it's water.

"Crap!" Ash yells nervously, "What was that?" she asks, equally as nervous. I turn off the fire in my hand, tempted to do it again. It looks so pretty… So… majestic… But I shake off the temptation and sit down again.

"Hello, Commander," says the older woman, "our guest has woken." Commander? Who is Commander?

"Thanks for the head's up, Doc," the man says with a smirk. Doc. At least I know the name of the other woman, "and she has awoken with something new, eh?" he says. What's with that smirk?

"It's Dr. Chakwas, Commander," she replies with a smile. Okay, so her name is Dr. Chakwas, not Doc. It's confusing, "and I was going to ask her about that."

"She doesn't seem too talkative, violent if anything. Does she understand English even?" He asks, with a more serious face, but still cocky-toned. Wait, that's Shepard!

"Yes, Peter, she does." Replies Ash sounding PISSED at something. Or someone. Why does she get so defensive over me? I don't want pity…

Shepard smile and walks over to her, "Peter…?" he asks.

Ash looks down, as if embarrassed, and replies, "Sir…"

Shepard claps his hands as if something has been relieved and exhales, "So, Subject 0.5, what's with the armband?"

He knows my name? Why does he know my name? Wait, did he look through the files? I look at him up and down. He has short, black hair spiked in the front. Five o'clock shadow, and blue eyes you can get lost in. He's significantly taller than Ash, who's taller than me, so, yeah. He's pretty threatening to me. The way he was able to scare Ash makes me nervous. _What if he can do that to you?_ No. Stop thinking like that. I breathe in, breathe out. Nice, steady breaths. I look him straight in the eye, and right before I'm about to do something he interrupts me.

"Nice eyes, so, what were you going to say before you started checking me out?" He says. Immediately my face starts to heat up. Dammit, why's my face so hot? I angrily close my eyes as I feel both women behind me laughing and giggling. I look right back to his eyes and death stare them. I flip him off and walk out of the room.

Damn that felt good.

#############################

I have no idea where I'm walking, but everyone keeps staring at me. Maybe it's from the lack of clothes. Or maybe because I'm limping around. I heard Ash and Dr. Chakwas laughing as I left. I'm not going to be pushed around by anybody. Not now. Not after I learned everything about my life was a lie. I walk around the corner and see a type of contraption, then I hear some footsteps behind me. The urge to attack them is uncanny, but I just wait until they touch my shoulder and I jump what seems like 8 feet in the air.

"What was that about?" Ash says while smiling. I just stare at her until her smile turns into a partial frown, "Okay then… this is an _elevator_, you just press the button and it moves down to the next floor. Come on, we'll be at the Citadel soon, so we need to make this fast."

She shows me into the elevator and pushes a green button. The decent starts with a quick jump and it moves _soooooo _slow to the next floor. I'd say I prefer stairs, but right now my chest and side hurt. I see the floor and just as I'm about to step out, I feel her grab my left hand and pull me back in, making me wince in pain. This floor looks so… nice. It's dark and quite. I want to stay here.

"One more floor," she says in a monotone voice. Just like The Voice, but less… I don't know, artificial? "We need to get you some clothes on. I don't know how well you'll fit into mine, but hopefully they fit. If not you're stuck in an Alliance uniform until we get to the Citadel." What's wrong with my clothes? I'm wearing something at least. She presses the button again and we start the slow decent. I just sit down and lean against the cold grey walls of steel behind me. They smell putrid.

We finally hit the floor and she helps me up. I walk as proudly as I can, considering limping around isn't my thing. I start to hear men whistle behind me and women stare at me and talk to their friends. Soon, all eyes are all me. I just stand there and stare. This totally isn't awkward. Nope, not at all. Why do they all stare? There are plenty of other women in the room. I feel Ash grab my hand again pull me into a room while I just stare out at everyone.

The door closes behind me and she mumbles, "The faster you get into clothes, the better." She signs and starts looking through a separate door in the room. There's things all around the room, mainly white and blue, like the clothes everyone wears here. That includes Shepard, Ash, and Alenko. Alenko is still a weird name, like Dr. Chakwas. As she walk over to me she has a long rag on her shoulder and is holding a set of clothing. "You need to get cleaned up before you can walk out of my room." She says with a sinister yet joking smile.

Well, well, Subject 0.5. What the hell have you gotten yourself into?

#############################

**And poof! Chapter 4 is done. Soon, so very soon, we can finally meet Garrus, Wrex, and Tali! Then later there's Liara. Ohboy. Liara. Everyone I know likes her except me. Dunno why, but don't worry, Subject 0.5 isn't bias like I am, so you will get a whole other point of view then "Damn Asari bitch." I liked her more in the 1****st**** then the 2****nd**** and 3****rd**** games. I should just stop rambling on and announce: SOON SO VERY SOON WITH THINGS PIECE TOGETHER. Right now, she's confused and derp. Soon, things will start forming and you won't need to assume things.**


	5. Chapter 5 - Stupid Bars

Chapter 5

At least everyone stopped staring. Sort of. They all still stare at my eyes, and it's making me really uncomfortable. I don't get it, but for whatever reason my eyes are special. Maybe my pupil is a different color, or the whites of my eyes are black. I don't know, but I see everyone's irises are different colors, so it can't be that. Once we get on the Citadel though I'm going to get something to hide my eyes. That, armor, clothes, and food. Apparently I'm "underweight," whatever that means. I was told that this is called the "Milky Way" galaxy and inside are planets. I was in a cell on a planet, not inside a separate Galaxy. That kind of explains everything, but I didn't tell Ash that I thought things were Galaxies. Maybe they documented everything on those files they downloaded onto 3 OSDs because it took up so much space. My life was uninteresting and repetitive, so I can imagine nothing interesting is truly on those OSDs. _Teltin 2_. I'll go back, and I'll kill everyone. I'll kill like they taught me to. I swear to-

"ETA: 2 minutes." Says a man over the radio. I don't know him, I've been sitting in the garage this whole time watching Ash video talk with her sister Abby. Dunno who she is, but she's strange…

"Yeah, we rescued someone on the way to the Citadel. Thanks to the wonderful thing called medicine, she's pretty much ready to go for a mission. First, of course, we're going to train her. By the files it looks as if she's already there, though." Says Ash sounding impatient since there's only about 2 more 'minutes' to talk to her sister. I don't understand why they are so close. Just because they are related by blood, doesn't mean you have to like each other. I think.

"Oooh, heroic of you, can I see her?" Abby asks. Dammit, why is everyone so curious about me?

"Uhm," she turns to look at me with a 'sorry, just please come here expression' and says, "Do you mind? I know you're listening. There isn't much else you can do."

Groggily I get up off the floor. I'm in one of the darker corners since, surprise, the dark is quite comforting. I walk over and on my way, I attempt to put on a brighter face. It comes out dull, considering the scar on my left cheek hurts when I move my mouth.

"Woah…" says Abby. There's a look of surprise on her face. Fuck. My eyes. I quickly close them and look down, frowning a bit. I hate it. I hate being the center of attention. "You look like… like someone famous. A 21st century French singer. Hold on, I'll pull up a pic and send it to your Omni-tool, Sis."

Wait, so it's not my eyes. I shoot my head back up and look back into the screen to see this Abby girl typing away to pull something up. Seconds later she does a sigh of relief and I see something orange glow on Ash's wrist. I know it's the Omni-tool, I think she said I need one too, but I got lost looking at the things around the room.

"Holy… You look exactly the same." Ash says as she lifts the Omni-tool to compare with my face. I look, not to mention feel, confused. The Voice told me there are no two people alike, so I don't see how I can look like this girl. I take a glimpse at the picture and read her name. 'Alizée Jacotey' it says. I'm not French. In fact, I don't know what I am. I speak English like everyone else here, so I have to be American, since I don't have the English accent.

"What's your name?" Abby asks. I don't know anything other than Subject 0.5, which sounds stupid compared to everyone else. I just walk away, it's easier than actually answering. I sit in the corner again and wait.

I close my eyes as Ash gets really close to the screen to whisper something. I don't really know what she said, and to be honest, I don't care. I'd prefer to sit here and rot then to answer questions right now. Relaxing seems like the better option, anyway. "Hey," Ash says to me making my eyes shoot open. Not in the mood Ash, "Come here. Please?" Please? Why beg when you're bigger than me? Again, I just walk back over and look into the screen with Abby on it.

"I used to play these vintage game, they are really cool and stuff. In fact, I think you would enjoy them. There's only like, 50 of them. I know it's exaggerated but-"

"Abby, you're babbling. Get to the point. I'm curious to hear this too, you know." Ash says with a smirk.

"Pfft, you're ruining the build-up. Anyway, there's this game series called _Mortal Kombat_ and there's this girl named Kitana. She pretty much found out her whole life was a HUGE lie, and, uhm… Isn't that like your life?" Asks Abby. I just stare at her. Damn, she's blunt and forward with things. What am I supposed to say? _Hey, spot on! Thanks for telling my personal life, Ash!_ No. But regardless, I shake my head yes.

"What's this getting to, Abby?" asks Ash, again, pissed. Abby catches on fast, still talking but treads lightly.

"Well, how about a new life? As… _Kitana Blade_. No?" Abby asks. Then there's silence. Mostly from me thinking. _A new life._ I can't. I'm too different. I move things with my mind, can spark lightning, and make fuckin' flames. I can't live a new life. Unless I try. I'm stupid, not afraid. I'm going for it.

I give a light smile, more a smirk but whatever, and nod. Ash hugs me close and then puts her hand on my head. "Well then, Kitana, we need to get ready," she turns to Abby, "Thanks, sis." And shows a warm smile.

Abby smirks, mostly because she won a type of argument, "When is the next time you're visiting home? Shore leave wise, not we're being taken over and we need someone to pull us out of the fire. Then again, my mad sword skills could take care of everything." She says while doing a ninja-like stance.

"I don't know. See ya." Replies Ash with a reassuring nod. She closes out the chat and grabs a pistol and a holster, tossing it to me as I walk towards the elevator. Just as she's about to say what to do with it, I clip it to my waist and slide the pistol in the holster giving it a twirl. The Voice implanted accuracy chips and such, so shooting is going to be hell'a fun.

########################################

Everyone is near the exit of the Normandy, getting ready to get onto the Citadel. We're doing some last minute armor and weapon checks before we head out. We as in Alenko, Ash, Shepard, and I. We come bursting through some dusty area that look like clouds when we see a huge squid-like spacecraft thin. The next thing is a deformed looking blob of something, which is by looks a kind of ship, more than four times the size of the Normandy. Ash is the first one to take note.

With eyes filled of awe Ash walked to the window of the Normandy along with Shepard. "Woah, look at the size of that ship…" she says, taking in the full awe of the ship

"The Ascension, flagship of the Citadel." Replies Alenko sounding so chill about this monster of a ship.

"Well, size isn't everything," replies the man in the front seat driving it. He has the same voice as the man over the radio that said the ETA was 2 minutes.

"Why so touchy, Joker?" Ash replies. Okay, another name down, Joker. Again, a peculiar name.

"I'm just sayin' you need firepower, too."

"Look at that monster! Its main gun could rip through the barriers of any ship in the Alliance fleet!"

"Good thing it's on our side then" replies Alenko. He pretty much butted into the conversation.

Joker hits a button and starts speaking, "Citadel control this is SSV Normandy, requesting permission to land."

The radio fizzles before a voice breaks through, "Stand by for clearance, Normandy," then there's a few seconds of silence as we continue to fly though obstacles in the atmosphere, "Clearance granted. You may begin your approach. Transferring you to an Alliance operator."

Joker responds, "Roger, Alliance Tower, Normandy out."

Another radio fizzle, "Normandy, this is Alliance Tower. Please proceed to dock 422."

########################################

Ash, Shepard, and Alenko all went to talk to some man named Ambassador Udina while I roam around the Citadel. I hop onto a taxi to the 'Lower Wards.' To be honest, I saw the word 'lower' and assumed it's just the dark area beneath everything. Well, I was partially right. They dropped me off at some place called 'Chora's Den.' It wreaks of alcohol, and the Asari pin-up on the outside hardly does it justice. I stroll in any way to see what's inside but the first thing that drives me nuts is the music. With ears of heightened sense, this hurts like a bitch. Oh well. The next thing is all the Asari dancers on the top of a round center, the rest are just a bunch of drunken idiots and dancers. I sit at the bar and ask for something to drink.

"What would you like?" The bartender, who luckily speaks English, asks. I just shrug, keeping my eyes low so nobody can even catch a glimpse. Suddenly I hear someone sit next to me.

"Hello, beautiful," he says with a charming voice. It's got a hint of… is that _Russian_? "What's a girl like _you_ doing in a place like _this_?"

I just keep staring at my drink in front of me. Ew. It's blue. The only thing I've ever had in my life was water. Clear, plain tasting water. Nothing blue with this strong a smell. It's in a small glass cup, shot glass I believe. I close my eyes and swallow the drink in one solid gulp. It's strong, I'll give it that, but I want more. I tap the table signaling for another. I feel someone touch my shoulder. So, naturally, I turn to see who it is. It's still the same guy. Dammit, just leave me alone right now.

"C'mon, you have to have a voice in there, Красивая женщина." What the fuck was that? Is he speaking another language? I need an Omni-tool soon. I can't understand anyone but humans and anyone else who speaks English.

The next drink that comes I just take another swing and slam the glass down. Tapping 3 times. I wonder how many of these things I can swallow. I catch a glimpse of the man sitting next to me. He's cute, I'll give him that. He's got shaggy-ish blonde hair with reddish eyes. Like a very dark red. Weird, I haven't seen someone with that color iris before. Once he looks back up to me from his cup I cover what I was doing my downing another of this blue drink. Damn I'm feeling weird. A bit tipsy from the music I guess.

"I saw you do that," he says, getting closer to my face. I use my right hand to push him back while I down another drink. I tap the table for the bartender to refill the two empty ones while I grab the other one. This music is really getting to my head, I'll just leave soon.

The bartender comes back but without drinks, "The man you're sitting next to has challenged you to a drink-off. Whoever wins doesn't pay." Wait, I need money to do this? Well, fuck. I have no money. Besides, it's just a drink or two, right?

########################################

_Besides, it's just a drink or two, right?_

Yeah, right. I don't know how long I've been at this but I feel like I'm going to hurl from all this damn music. There's just a bunch of empty shot glasses everywhere to keep score. I'm going to win this, I think it's determination that's keeping me conscious. Dammit, why won't he just stop?

"Even if I don't win this, the tab is on me," He says with a smirk. He's really pissing me off. He keeps flirting with me, even after he looks as bad as I do. Luckily, though, my head has been pretty much down with my eyes closed this whole time. Don't want to attract attention, "But only if the Красивая женщина agrees to go on a date with me. Anyone else think it's a good trade?" FUCK. I want to wring his neck. I barely even feel my hand heating up again until my drinks are tasting slightly hotter. I can't do this anymore. There's too much of a risk.

I tap out. If I stay here anymore, I'll start exploding glass from over-heating them. I never want to do that again. I feel something happening in my stomach. But as soon as I stand I fall right on my ass. Damn, this stupid music is intoxicating. Wait. _Intoxicating_… _Alcohol…_ Aww Fuck…

I crawl up in the corner of the bar and fall asleep. Well, that shows how stupid I am.

########################################

**A/N: In case you were all wondering, Красивая женщина means 'beautiful woman' in Russian. I don't know why I made the guy Russian. Maybe because they are cool. Dunno. I don't even know anyone Russian. Anyway, I did this to skip all the monologue of all the council meetings and such, and to introduce a new character. He was supposed to be introduced in a… **_**different**_** fashion, but I liked this better. Kitana was at a bar anyway. So, first experience of alcohol = regretful. That's nice to know.**** It's actually a lot of fun having her try every-day experiences for the first time: Like being cared for, flirted with, and drinkin' lots!**

**Q/A: **

_**I want to know does she literally make fire pop up on her hands?**_

**To keep from confusion later on, yes. Everything will be explained soon to come! I have it all sorted out on paper and such… somewhere in my mess of a room. But, yes. She does, she also can 'manipulate' electricity like noted in earlier chapters (1 or 2 I believe) Soon, everything will be sorted out. **

**Hint/Spoiler: It's related to the Armband previously noted.**


	6. Chapter 6 - Drago

Chapter 6

God, my head hurts. Like always, but this time it feels like a jackhammer is going off in my brain. Where am I anyway? My face feel soaked like I just got out of a shower, but a cold shower.

"Wake up, you've gotta be up by now. Do you know how awkward this is?" I hear someone say. God, just shut up, my head is killing me.

I feel a splash of cold water which makes me shoot up from, what appears to be a floor. The light in the room blinds me for a second but I quickly recover to observe the room. It's a bathroom. Great. Stalls n' all. I see the same guy who had the drink-off with me. He's kneeled on the ground with a puddle of water next to him. I assume I was laying there. I give him a questioning glance.

"Great, you're awake, now let's leave. You _really_ don't know how bad it is for my image to be here." He says with a smirk. He just gets up and grabs my arm to practically drag me out.

Oh shit… We're still in Chora's Den. My head hurts enough. Please, just no more music. Luckily, he weaves me through the crowd in front of me and out the door, where I practically just plop back on the floor and sit with my eyes closed, head back against the wall. Even putting my head against the wall gently rocks it enough to make me cringe.

"Here, take these," he hands me two pills, they are half blue, half green. Blue, like the drink I was drinking. He looks back up at me while they just sit in my hand, "Do you even know what you were drinking?" he asks humorously with that damn smirk. What's with men and smirking?

I shake my head and put both pills in my mouth and swallow. I don't know what they do or what they are for, but I hope it gets rid of the pain in my stomach.

"It was enhanced Vodka. The nly other person I thought could drink as much as you just did would be Josef Stalin." He laughs about it for a second as he sits next to me. How the hell is he not in pain? Dammit, why does my head have to be so weak? "My name is Serafim, but everyone calls me Drago. I never did get your name, ya' know." He says flirtatiously as he puts on a pair of glasses that blocks off the eyes. I need a pair of those.

#####################################

Suddenly, I hear 3 sets of footsteps come from the left side of the bridge like area we're on. I see one person in black armor with the N7 pinstripe down the right arm, one in pink and white armor, and the other in blackish armor. It's Shepard, Ash, and Alenko. I hear them talking about how 'politics are stupid,' and 'the council are blind and stupid too.'

"Is that… Is that Kit?" I hear Ash ask with a smile as the group of three stroll over to me. Wow. It must look suggestive sitting with this guy.

Drago stands up to greet everyone. "Hey, the names' Serafirm, but please, call me Drago." Why Drago anyway? "What was her name? Kit?" He asks looking at me. I look down as fast I can, I guess he hasn't noticed my eyes yet, "Well, I assume it's a nickname."

Ash playfully eyeballs me as she says, "Her name is Kitana," then looks back to Drago, "and why might you be with this lovely lady outside of _this _place?"

Drago puts his hands up as if surrendering and opens his mouth as if he's going to speak just before I hear someone butt in, "Ash, I think we _all_ know what was happening in there." It's Shepard. Of course. It manages to get a chuckle from Alenko and Ash glares at him playfully. "But in all seriousness, what are you guys doing here. Well more like, 'Kit what are you doing here?'"

"Hey, look man, I didn't bring her here. I found her here." Drago says finally. He turns to me while I'm still just sitting on the ground, headache subsiding, "And a beautiful name that is." Does he EVER shut-the-fuck-up?

"Well, I hope she's ready for some action. We're going in there to talk to a man called Harkin." Says Alenko approaching me, offering a hand to get up. As I'm reaching for it, Drago grabs my hand and yanks me up making me bash into him. Shit, that didn't help my headache at all. I barely realized he was practically hugging me. I put both hands on his chest, though they were already there, and push him away. My hands go black as they do it.

"Ah hah! I knew you had biotics in you!" Says Shepard. How'd he know?

"What was that for, you can't deny you like it." Drago says, completely avoiding the statement made by Shepard. He's pretty good at changing subjects. At least he's not coming with us.

"Excuse me, Commander, I don't think we have time for this. We need to go stop Saren." Says Alenko. Saren? Who's Saren?

"You're finally stopping that S.O.B Saren? How?" asks Drago, mad and excited at the same time.

"Yeah, we're bringing him down, and we're doing it with or without the damn council." Says Shepard with an angry-ass expression on his face.

"You've gotta let me come with you!" says Drago, "You don't understand how much I need this!" Why's he so angry?

Shepard gives a quizzical expression and then looks at Drago, "Why?" is all he asks.

"The fucker and his Geth posse killed my family."

"Can you shoot a gun?"

"As good as a soldier."

Another quizzical face. He looks towards Ash, she nods, and Alenko who doesn't do anything at first, then hesitantly nods. All 3 have serious faces on. Shepard nods towards both of them, then to me. Ash reaches out to shake hands.

"Welcome aboard the Normandy, go get your stuff and return to Docking Bay 422. Tell Joker that Shepard sent you." Drago pretty much is running towards the exit before Ash finishes the sentence. She turns and winks at me. Wait. Oh, shit. That means…. Aww damn. He's going to be around me _ALL_ the time.

#####################################

I sit on waist high walls of the bridge, waiting for Drago return. We could just leave without him.

"C'mon, get down unless you want to fall." Warns Ash. I don't care.

"_C'mon, get down unless you want to fall._" Says Shepard, mimicking a feminine voice while doing goofy faces. Ash looks at him with a smirk and then elbows his gut, making him exaggerate pain while spinning in circles with his hand where she elbowed. Making both Alenko and Ash start laughing. Maybe I should play a prank on them.

I stand up on the wall and stare down at them, putting out my arms to make it look like I'm balancing myself. I start shaking a bit more, then wobbling back and forth. I charge my hands with electricity and 'fall' off the edge, clinging to the bridge's underneath area with my charge. I love static electricity.

"Oh, fuck!" Shepard yells as he darts toward the edge and I see his hand go over the edge. "No, no, no, no, FUCK no!"

"What the hell, Shepard, I told her to get down!" yells Ash.

"Look, don't panic maybe-" starts Alenko, a shame he never finished. I wonder what he was going to say.

"Don't panic? Don't tell me not to panic, Kaiden!" Oh, his name is Kaiden. No wonder Alenko sounded peculiar…

As soon as I see Shepard's arm disappear, I crawl up the side of the wall and launch myself at least four feet into the air and drop back down to the wall in a cat-like position. Everyone just stares. Stares of amazement, I assume.

"You… you little fucker, you!" Shepard says as he grabs me and gives me a noogie. Suddenly everyone starts laughing, making me smirk a bit. I notice Drago walk in while everyone's still laughing.

He starts to chuckle, "Did I miss-" All of a sudden the door into Chora's Den bursts open. Assassins. Shepard ducks into cover, dragging me along with him. Ash and Kaiden follow suit and Drago gets behind a wall. I draw my pistol. Finally, some enemies.

"Stay in cover, I got this." Says Shepard to us all. Hell no, the only way I'm staying out of this fight is if I'm cold and dead.

#####################################

I charge my left hand and wait a second. _One… Two… Three… Four… _"FIVE!" is all I yell as I, literally, fly towards one of the Assassins and hit him on the ground with an elbow to the chest. I grab my gun and beat him in the head a few times until it's literally just mush. I snap my head toward the other one. I wish I could see the look on his face, but the ass has a helmet on. Unlike this unlucky one. I use my 'biotics' to give myself some barriers and make a sprint toward the second one. On the way there, I flip the gun from bunt to normal in one, quick, fluid motion. I ram my elbow into him and grab his gun with my right hand and melt it - while the Turian is still holding it. He starts shaking. I head-butt the helmed Turian and put the pistol next to its head and pull the trigger. Blue blood soaks me from hand to face and part of my upper body. That felt so nice. Adrenaline slowly wears away and my elbow is finally realizing '_you shouldn't go and elbow armored assassins._'

"What was that!?" is all I hear as everyone starts coming out of cover. Oh yea, I forgot about them. Was I not supposed to do that?

I see Ash and Drago run up to me, "Are you okay?" they both ask simultaneously. I just nod.

"Don't _ever_ do that again" Shepard says demandingly, "when I say 'Stay in cover, I got this,' I mean it!"

Drago is the first to speak up, "Yea, well, Krasivaja zhenshhina just got two people off our hands. Leave 'er alone."

Ash follows, "In all due respect, Commander, Drago does have a point."

It doesn't take long for Kaiden to finally speak up. Damn, he's always so quite. Well, that's hypocritical of me to say, "Agreed."

Shepard looks at everyone before he just sighs, "Fine. But you're explaining everything you just did after Harkin," he says with an Angryish voice, "and clean yourself up."

I look down at myself. I almost forgot that there's blood all over me. Well, at least Shepard knows I'm worth keeping, considering I just soloed some assassins.

#####################################

**Aaaaand, finally, some action. Oh how I've been waiting so long for this. Dylan, I threw the Josef Stalin reference in there for you. At least I'm finally getting some action, it's the best part to write. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me them or write it in a review. I made this one a bit longer because of the fact that I got all excited from my first **_**touchscreen**_** cellphone. And it's a **_**smartphone!**_** God, I've never felt so rich… Well, considering I'm going to be paying it off for the next, how many weeks is it? 20 weeks. That always sucks. If you have any suggestions on how to handle the fight scenes, gimme dem! I always am open to constructive criticism!**

**P.S.: Krasivaja zhenshhina is just ****Красивая женщина written with English letters, so it's less of an eye sore. It's probably going to get used often, so always remember ****Krasivaja zhenshhina is Russian for "Beautiful Woman" Heh, kind of a cool coincidence that both Kitana and Krasivaja both start with 'K'**

**P.S.S. Serafim is Russian, yes. It basically mean "fire" and "serpent" then poof, it's pretty much a Dragon. Thus, Drago, since Serafim a pretty awkward name.**


	7. Chapter 7 - Garrus

Chapter 7

I must smell horrible. I forgot how Turian blood smelled. As the five of us walk into Chora's Den _again_ everyone starts to stare at me, including the bartender who served me. I watch him prepare a glass of enhanced vodka but I dismiss him secretly by shaking my head and putting up my hand.

"Oooh, so that's what you were doing, eh?" I hear Ash say from behind me. Damn, I didn't think anyone was watching. I start to shake my head furiously and put up my hands surrender-like.

"Uh-huh, and do you expect to disagree with the one who drank with you?" I hear Drago say behind me. Dammit, can't he just stay out of this?

"What do you mean 'drank with you'?" Ash asks. Oh fuck… don't say it, don't say it, don't say it…

"We had a drink-off. She lost. Funny, it was right after I said I'd still pay if I won as long as I got a date." Dammit, he said it. With that stupid smirk, too. My drinks were over-heating, did he want them all to explode?

"Oh, is that right?" Ash just starts to smile at me. Again, I start shaking my head and she just rolls her eyes and walks forward again. Once Drago looks over to me, I just glare at him and shake my head. Almost right next to Harkin I hear two Krogans talk to each other. It doesn't seem too friendly.

"Back off, Wrex, Fist told us to take you down if you showed up." Says the less scarred up Krogan.

"What are you waiting for? I'm standing right here," replies the other Krogan, presumable Wrex, "This is Fist's only chance – if he's smart he'll take it."

"He's not coming out, Wrex, end of story."

"This story 's just beginning," suddenly the Krogan starts walking past us, "Out of my way, humans, I have no quarrel with you."

Kaiden speaks up first, that's a surprise, "What was that all about?"

Ash looks at him, "Who knows, let's just try not to get caught in the middle." And with that, we make our way over to Harkin.

#################################

"Alliance military, pfft, I could have been a marine ya' know. But instead, I joined the goddamn Citadel Security. Biggest mistake of my life." He says before we even introduce ourselves. Well-gee. He seems all bright and sunny, now doesn't he?

Shepard takes on his leading roll, "I'm lookin' for a C-Sec officer. A Turian named Garrus."

"Garrus? Ha! You must be one of Captain Anderson's crew. Poor bastard's still trying to bring Saren down, eh?" Harkin gets quieter, "I know where Garrus is. But you gotta tell me something first. Did the captain let you in on his big secret?"

Shepard sighs, "Look, just tell me where Garrus is. We can do some pep-talking later."

Harkin does a gruff snort, "But it's all related. Don't you see?" He gets a bit louder, "The captain used to be a Spectre. Didn't know that, did you? It was all very hush-hush. The first human ever given that honor. And then he blew it. Screwed up his mission so bad they kicked him out. Of course, he blames Saren. Says the Turian set him up."

Shepard's expression shows his anger alone, "God, man, just tell me where the Turian is!"

Harkin takes a sip of his drink, it's the same enhanced vodka I drank, "Garrus was sniffing around Dr. Michel's office. She runs the med clinic on the other side of the wards. Last I heard, he was going back there."

"Finally, some actual answers, I'm out of here." Is all Shepard says, mainly to himself, then starts walking away.

Drago walk up to Harkin and gives him a nod, "Thanks, _chelovek_." Is all he says to him and walk away. I wish I spoke Russian… I guess we go to the Med Clinic now.

We're on our way to the fast-travel unit to get a taxi… Wait a minute… there's only 3 seats in the taxi, and five of us. Shit, people have sit on other people's laps. Only problem is: Me and Ash are the lightest since we're girls, so we are most likely going to have to do it, no matter how much I hate it. Unless I get the front seat…

"So, uh…" starts Kaiden, what's he waiting for? Suddenly the door of the taxi flips up and he practically dives into the front seat, "I call shotgun!" Dammit!

"I'm the Commander here, Kaiden," Shepard states with a smile, "So I get the front seat."

"Yea, well, you snooze you lose." He replies while sticking his tongue out.

"Fine, Uhm… Uhh…" is all Shepard is saying. He's all macho man in combat, but once he has to handle a taxi situation his mind blanks, "There's 2 seats, so…"

"We understand the situation, Commander. We're not stupid." Is all Ash says with a smirk.

"Uhm, okay then, Drago and I get in first, then you two, so choose uh…"

Drago butts in, "Just drop the subject." That simple statement causes everyone to laugh, well except me of course, I just smile.

Shepard goes in first, then Drago. Then it's up to us two. Maybe if I can make some kind of '_I swear, if you don't let me go in first, I'll cut your head off_' gesture we go in. I look up to Ash with regretful eyes. She nods.

"I understand," she whispers in ear. She understand? Great! That's actually cool, so now I -… Spoke too soon. She heads off into the taxi first. No… NO! You idiot! That's not what I meant! Ugh… This is going to be a long ride. I get in and sit on Drago. Son of a bitch, Ash. I thought you understood…

#################################

This entire time Shepard has said not-a-thing and has been looking to the floor, and this entire time Drago has yet to shut up. He's been complaining how I've yet to look at him.

"C'mon, Krasivaja zhenshhina, just say something other than 'five'." God, does he ever shut up? Seriously…

I finally turn to look at him. More of a glare, not a look. "Four." is all I say, and it's all he's getting out of me. I see something glistening red on his neck, it catches my attention immediately. It's a serpent with wings and legs, hugging a ball of crimson, almost like blood. It's got the same color eyes as the ball it's hugging. The serpent looks almost majestic, like fire does. "See, it wasn't so hard was it?" he sees my eyes looking at the necklace, "It's a dragon. You know what that is, right?" I just shake my head, not prying my eyes off the dragon. Wait.. _Drago… Dragon…_ I see now…

"Your name." I say a bit lowly, but audible. I think.

"Mhmm," he moans as he nods his head in agreement, "It's a mythical creature that's as big as Chora's Den that breathes fire. It's where Serafim originated, and how I got the nickname Drago. I made the necklace out of metal and some kind of rock I found. Glossed it up, shined the metal, and then poof, awesome necklace. Like it?" I nod. "I can make you one if you want."

Really? My eyes light up with excitement. I don't want a dragon though, I want a wolf with… green eyes. Hugging a green orb. In memory of the wolf that helped me wake up. Was I dead? I don't know, regardless I want one.

"Well, only for a kiss." Oh, of course, nothing is free in life. Of _course_ Drago couldn't just let it slide. You know, I wouldn't be in this predicament if Ash didn't make me sit here. I look over and Ash and glare angrily at her. She just shrugs with a playful smile.

"We're here guys n' gals." Kaiden says as the taxi lands. I'm the first one to jump out of the taxi and stretch my legs and arms. Damn, I was so angry I barely realized how cramped it was in there. I can't read any of these signs, since they are all in some alien language, probably Asari, so I don't see how far away it is.

"Phew, finally," is all Shepard says. Everyone eventually follows suit of what I was doing.

"Geez, Shepard, I take that as an insult." Ash replies stretching and checking her guns. There's like an arsenal on her back… Holy shit, I never noticed.

"I uhh, no, I meant, uh" Damn, he stutters a lot while talking to Ash.

"It was a joke, Shepard, just relax."

"Yeah, I knew that."

"Uh-huh."

I see Kaiden walk over to a door and read the sign above it. "Well, here we are. Ready?" Everyone nods. And we walk in casually to see a Turian walking across the bottom of a counter, keeping in cover, and a girl getting interrogated.

"I didn't tell anyone, I swear!" she exclaims with an accent that I don't recognize.

One of the interrogators, a man in red with a black eye-piece replies, "That was smart Doc, now if Garrus comes around you stay smart. Keep your mouth shut or we'll-" Shit! He noticed us! "Who're you!?"

Shepard is all serious now. How pulls out his pistol and aims "Let 'er go!"

All of a sudden the Turian rolls out from cover and shoots the man right in the head. Boom, head-shot! The man in red just drops. He keeps walking towards the other men dressed in red then gets into cover. Everyone else follows suit.

Everyone is against the counter of the wall except me and Drago since we are unarmored. We're behind the wall at the enterence. I eye up Ash's back and see a shotgun. Oh yeah, that could do some _major _damage unlike this pistol. I take a charge for Ash but one of the thugs catch me off guard and gets a shot at me, luckily it just skims my face. I slide into cover next to Ash and yank off the shotgun. One thug, the one in the back, too has a shotgun. I pull out my pistol and start to shoot blindly.

"What do you think you're doing with that?" Asks Ash, yelling over the gunfire. I don't bother reply as I drop my pistol when it overheats and charge for the next cover. A few more shots skim my limbs but nothing serious. I see Shepard take out the thug I blindly shot at, and Kaiden throw the other against the wall with biotics, and Ash shoots him to death with an AR. I charge the guy with the shotgun.

"Kit! Get back here!" I hear Drago shout mid-charge. Fuck 'em. This'll be easy.

The thug in front of me pulls up his shotgun to do a hip shot, so I grab it with my left and boost-throw it out of the way. Good thing I can make my hand an awesome magnet, which forces it away with so much force he pulls the trigger. The next thing I see is white, and my ears begin ringing. Something just exploded. I get thrown against the wall along with the thug and I push away his gun and sit on top of him. I never saw a shotgun death before. I put my shotty against his chest. Holy shit, this thing became heavy since the explosion. I pull the trigger making me get the breath knocked out of me from the recoil and I get covered in his blood. That was absolutely devastating. It looks like I just chopped off his upper body. I roll back and lay on the floor next to him. I finally hear people over the ringing in my ears. That was actually kind of fun.

"Kitana? Kitana!?" I hear Drago shout again. "Shit! Kitana, are you okay?" Is that actual concern in his voice? Hmph. I didn't think that existed. I weakly nod my head as he comes over to me and helps me up. Great, now I have to rely on his for walking for a bit. That's totally great…

We go up to the Turian, whom I believe is Garrus, and he starts the talking. "Perfect timing, Shepard, gave me a clear shot on that bastard."

Shepard's face fills with fury, "You could have shot the hostage!"

"There wasn't time to think… I just reacted. I... I didn't mean to – Dr. Michel are you hurt?"

Dr. Michel rubs her head, "No, I'm okay, Thanks to you. All of you."

Shepard takes a deep inhale, "I know those men threatened you, but if you tell us who they work for, we can protect you." He's actually quite comforting when he is not being an asshole.

"They work for Fist. They wanted to shut me up – Keep me from telling Garrus about the Quarian."

"Does this have anything to do with the investigation into Saren?"

Garrus butts in, "I think it might. Dr. Michel, Tell us what happened."

"A few days ago a Quarian came by my office… She'd been shot but she wouldn't tell me who did it," she takes an inhale, "I could tell she was scared, probably on the run. She asked me about the Shadow Broker. She wanted to exchange information for a safe place to hide." Dr. Michel explains.

"Where is she now?" asks Shepard, his voice is comforting yet he spoke like a leader.

"I put her in contact with Fist. He's an agent for the Shadow Broker."

"Not anymore, now he works for Saren, and the Shadow Broker isn't too happy about it." Garrus explains to both Dr. Michel and Shepard. Huh. Why does everyone have to go to Saren's side?

Dr. Michel's face looks puzzled and worried, "Fist betrayed the Shadow Broker? That's stupid even for him! Saren must have made him quite the offer." Oh, Saren is bribing everyone. That works, for fuck-tards I guess.

"That Quarian must have something Saren wants. Something work crossing the Shadow Broker to get." Explains Garrus, who starts looking quizzically at the ground. Thinking I guess.

"What else can you tell me about the Quarian?" he asks to Dr. Michel.

"I'm not sure. Like I said, she wanted to trade information for a place to hide. She didn't – Wait a minute. Geth. Her information had something to do with the Geth."

Garrus's face lights up in acknowledgement, "She must be able to link Saren to the Geth. There is no way the council can ignore this!"

Shepard smirks and puts his hand on his chin, and his other across his chest in a thinking position. He stays there for a few seconds then cracks his knuckles, "I think it's about time we've paid Fist a visit."

Garrus takes a step forward, "This is your show, Shepard, but I want to take Saren down as much as you do."

Shepard sticks out his hand almost immediately, "Welcome aboard, go get your things and take them down to Docking Bay 442." They shake hands and nod to each other and Garrus disappears to the next fast-travel unit.

Suddenly Garrus runs back to us, "Oh, and by the way, there's a Krogan named Wrex. He's after Fist too."

Ash takes notice to the name Wrex, "Wrex? Didn't we meet him at the bar?" Everyone nods.

Kaiden pipes up, "A Krogan could come in handy."

Garrus nods, "Last I heard he was at C-Sec academy." Everyone nods again and he disappears for a second time.

Oh boy, a Krogan and Turian on the Normandy, plus we have to go save a Quarian. When did I sign up for this? Oh, right, never. I just happen to get dragged into these things.

#################################

**All, sound the Bugle! There is another chapter finished!**

***Bugle noises***

**Anyway, we've finally got some awesome-sauceness stuff happening (A.K.A: New recruits!) Not to mention a Quarian we have to save. I never actually listened to Dr. Michel, since I hated her accent, and skipped through all the dialogue. When I heard that Tali was shot it literally sank my heart since I always thought of Tali as a sister. I became protective of her, even when she pissed me off in ME3 and died 14 times on me on that one mission on Rannoch. All those times of doing that mission… Damn.**

**P.S.: If you ever see an italicized unfamiliar word, chances are it's Russian. Here's how to decode it (Swap the ', ' for a '.':**

**First go to this website: translit, cc **

**-Copy/Paste word(s) in**

**-Press the button on the bottom of the box that says '- CYRILLIC'**

**-Copy the new word(s)**

**Then go to this website: translate, google, com**

**-Paste new word(s) in the box**

**-Make sure it says on the top 'Russian - - English'**

**-Press Enter or Translate button on top of screen**

**-Read what it says on the right box, that's what the word(s) mean.**

**You can test it out with: **_**chelovek**_

_****_**P.S.S.: There was something I was going to put here, but I forgot.**

**Q/A: **

_**Will Drago romance Kit?**_

**Baww, you don't want me to ruin it for you. Dem Spoilers be Spoilin' You'll know soon enough. I promise. **

_**-Rogue**_


	8. Chapter 8 - Bullet Wounds

Chapter 8

We all decided it was best to go and get the Krogan first, since he might be able to tell us some more information about Fist. I'm still limping a bit, but I just push away anyone who offers to help. I'm fine. Shepard said it'd be best if we walked, since nobody except Kaiden and Drago came out of that taxi smiling.

"You really need to wash that off," Ash says, "You're attracting attention." Oh, she's talking about the colorful paint on me. 'Colorful paint' as in red and blue blood soaking me.

I don't actually feel like it, so I just act like I didn't hear her. As we're walking, we notice a food bar. The aroma of the food fills my nose. I look around to see people eating more than I've eaten in the past month. How could someone eat so much? I shake off the feeling and walk forward to bump into someone familiar. Drago.

"You wan'a stop for something to eat? I do have extra credits and-" I shake my head. Well, more of shaking the temptation of saying yes. The food smells so good, maybe just – No, mission comes first, but it doesn't stop me from staring at the food.

I head up to Kaiden, who's in the back with me and Drago, "We'll stop for something to eat _after_ the mission. How's that sound?" I nod, "Good, because if you didn't agree I'd be going alone," He puts his hand on his stomach and moans, "I haven't eaten since this morning and it's already 3." Wait, people eat every sleep here? That's weird, I was fed once every 3 sleeps.

I watch Ash and Shepard slow down, allowing us to catch up, "Yea, we're all hungry. And seriously, go wash that stuff off. You smell." Shepard states smiling. I want to punch him so bad right now. I nod my head and let out a distressful moan, luckily he never said I had to do it now though. We take a detour right and stop at a store, "Now." Well, fuck me.

Everyone gets all nice and cozy while I head to the bathroom. Shit, it smells in here. I go over to the sink and realize there is a reflector on the wall. I think those are called _mirrors_. So, that's what I look like. It's no joke I look like that Alizée girl. Wait… my eyes… They're… Purple? Actually, a very light purple with darker purple surrounding the edges. I put my hand on the mirror and drag it down. There's a bit, my mistake, a big blood trail following the hand path. I hear a door open behind me and I jump on the sink's counter and ball my hand into a fist. It's just a Quarian.

"Uhm… Hi?" She says, "I didn't mean to scare you." Wait, what's a Quarian doing in a bathroom? I thought they couldn't exit their suits… Well, that's none of my business. Considering I'll never see her again, I guess a conversation couldn't hurt.

"H... Hi…." Is all I say while getting off the counter top. I offer my hand, which she generously accepts.

"My name's Tali, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, and you are?"

"Uhm… Kitana… Kitana Blade." Fuck, I didn't think this would be so awkward.

She looks down at her hand then grabs a towel and wipes it off, "If you don't mind me asking, Kitana, what's all over you?"

I think back to earlier, when Ash said it was attracting attention, "Paint?"

"Wait… is that…? Keelah... Shit… shitshitshitshitshit…

"Yeah… But wait, I can explain!" I don't see a reason, after this I'll never meet you again.

"Oh, I have to go, Uhm, Good bye" She says as she storms off. Well, it's official, I'm a friend repellent whenever I open my mouth. Good bye socializing, hello isolation.

I turn around and look at myself in the mirror. Damn. I turn the sink on all the way hot water. I can barely feel the heat, sadly, because of this stupid fire thing in my hand. I splash a handful onto my face and attempt to rub out whatever blood I can. It proves to be no avail of the situation, for it's engraved into my clothing. The majority is off my face and arms, but the rest is going to have to stay. Damn.

I walk out to see Drago leaning against the wall of the store waiting for me, Ash and Kaiden talking by a table, and Shepard and Garrus are getting to know each other. Wait, Garrus is here? How long was I in there?

"Well, I can see your bathroom sink shower didn't help at all, eh, _Krasivaja zhenshhina_?" Drago asks while looking me up and down, "We still have that date after all this, no?"

"And I guess I'm the chaperone, because I'm as hungry as both of you." Kaiden says, causing everyone around to laugh.

"Uh-huh, because you're the only one hungry here, Kaiden" Ash says while getting up out of the table seat.

"Well, considering I'd probably die from eating your food, I think I'll have a picnic by myself," Says Garrus in his natural Turian flang-of-a-voice. I hate Turians, ever since that day –

"Well, let's discuss dining arrangements later, we've got a Krogan to recruit and a Quarian to save." Says Shepard taking on his leading role again. I must admit, I envy the man sometimes. ##############################

We finally walk to C-Sec Academy to find Wrex surrounded by some men. Don't know who they are, but we listen in to their conversation.

The C-Sec man is the first person we hear, "Witnesses saw you making threats in Fist's bar. Stay away from him."

"I don't take orders from you," Wrex says with his deep grumbly voice.

The C-Sec man gets up into his face, "This is your only warning, Wrex." Damn, he's got balls of steel.

The Krogan gets into his face more, making the C-Sec officer take a step back, "You should warn Fist. I will kill him." Heh, I like this guy.

"You want me to arrest you?"

"I want you to try." He catches sight of us. Oh Shit, tell me this isn't bad…

"Go on, get out of here!" The C-Sec officer yells as Wrex walks over to us.

He grunts, "Yes, Human?"

Shepard takes a strong stance, "I'm trying to take down Saren. I was told to talk to you."

"Whoever it was, was a smart man. We may share a common goal here, human."

Shepard folds his arms, "Enlighten me."

Wrex takes a few more steps towards Shepard, "I was hired to kill the man who owns Chora's Den. A man named Fist. He did something very foolish."

"He betrayed the Shadow Broker."

"A Quarian showed up here on the Citadel. She was on the run. She wanted to trade information for a safe place to hide, so she went to Fist. He promised to arrange a meeting between her and the Shadow Broker, instead he contacted Saren."

"Well, I can tell Fist isn't too smart."

"He's just greedy. Saren paid a small fortune for the Quarian. He had too. She has evidence connecting him to the Geth."

Kaiden looks towards Shepard, "If we can get our hands on that evidence, we can prove Saren 's a traitor! The council will have to listen to us!"

"Where's the Quarian now?" Shepard asks, looking back to Wrex.

"Last I heard Fist still had her, probably still inside his club. You help me kill Fist, she's all yours."

Shepard nods, "You've got yourself a deal."

Oh, wonderful. We've got a Turian, Krogan, Woman with an arsenal, undefeatable commander, Mr. Biotics, someone who just got blown up, then there's Drago. What a completely normal team. ##############################

I hate coming back to Chora's Den. Too many bad memories. On the up side, this time I'm going in with a shotgun. I grabbed it from Ash again on the way here, she just sighed and let me have it. Shepard said to expect enemies. I always expect enemies. We're just in front of the door when everyone gets into position. Wrex and I are in the front, so we can barge in with shotguns. Drago has my pistol, so he's staying in the back, Ash with an AR behind me, then there's Kaiden with his biotics and pistol, and Shepard with his Sniper Rifle and Pistol.

Shepard starts counting down with his hands. Five… I start to charge my left hand with electricity… Four… I give myself barriers… Three… I pump my shotgun… Two… I check my safety switch, off, good… One… My adrenaline takes over… He opens the door and I charge in before the Krogan, yelling as I do. I knock one guy in the face as I'm pelted with bullets and when he's on the ground I blow his face off.

"Heh, not bad for a Human!" Wrex yells to me over the gunfire.

I just smirk and nod my head, when he nods back I charge over to the next table and grab the guy directly behind it by the neck with my electric hands and send a bolt so powerful through him he just stops breathing, I toss the body to the ground. I see some people die here and there, but I focus on the two in the back. I look a bit closer and I see where I went wrong last time. That red thing explodes. "Wrex! Cover my ass!" I yell as I charge head first to them, they both have shotguns. I jump behind the crate as one of the guys shoots his shotty. Holy shit, if I was there I would have been torn to shreds, it's like 6 times more powerful than this piece of shit!

"Where are you going, get over here!" I hear Kaiden yell from way back, but pure Adrenaline keeps me going. I grab the first guys shotgun and smash it into his face, then turn him around and duck into cover again as his friend puts holes in his body. Good thing for meat shield. Except one tiny little problem, one of the shots punctured through him and into me. Suddenly the whole area goes numb. Oh Shit… Oh fuck… What did I just do? I take the stronger shotty off the man and head-butt his friend while his weapon cools down and pin him against the wall.

"Fuck. You." Is all I yell into his ear as I shoot him in the arm, making it literally fly out of his socket with a fine mist. "FUCK YOU, FUCK YOU, FUCK YOU!" Is all I keep shouting as I shoot him multiple times with my shotgun. When it overheats, I grab my old one and repeat the process. I barely even noticed there isn't any more shooting as I toss away the shotgun after it overheated and started pounding in whatever is left of this man with my foot.

"What happened? _Krasivaja zhenshhina_, what's wrong?" I turn around to him as I am literally dripping in blood from these two kills. I lift up my shirt to reveal a bullet hole. Fuck it hurts. "Oh shit, Someone get over here and put some medi-gel on this!" He yells to the others.

All of a sudden, I hear the door behind me slide open. Shit, two men with some heavy-ass pistols. When I jump into cover, there's a horrible sound of muscle and flesh being torn, but I shake it off as I curl up against the wall, unable to move. Oh fuck, this isn't going to end well. Suddenly, I see about four more people flood into the room. One with a sniper, two with shotguns, and one with an AR. Fist must be loaded. I keep my back pressed up against the wall as three run by without noticing me. Wait, I thought I saw two shotguns? I turn my head to see the barrel of a shotgun right in my face, a thug with a grin on his face and cigar in his mouth holding in. No… I go to grab the shotgun but I'm too slow, close my eyes and am deafened by the blare of the shotgun in my ear. Suddenly, my whole body floods cold. Oh Fuck… Fuck fuck fuck FUCK FUCK! Wait, I'm still alive? I look over to see Drago wrestling the guy on the ground and once he's down he snaps his neck. I look down at myself to see there's no bullet wound. Well, from that shotgun at least.

"C'mon!" He to me as he helps me up. I have an arm around his neck limping on my right leg to the nearest cover. I just plop down on the ground and lean against this flipped table.

He lifts up my shirt and the sight makes him turn around and say something with his eyes closed. Is it that bad? He grabs a towel off the ground and starts wiping away the blood, making me slam my head against the table the grit my teeth with my eyes closed. This is probably one of the most painful experiences I've had. I can tell the bullet is lodged inside of me rather then it having gone all the way through, so the pain is horrible. Even when I was getting the shit beat out of me, I still didn't feel it this much, probably because I was in and out of death. I look down to see the wound, it's a lot bigger than I thought. It's like it just tore into me, all jagged and shit… It looks fucking horrible.

Suddenly, all gunfire stops and everyone rushes to me, first one being Ash, "God, what were you thinking?" When all I do is smirk, she raises her voice, "Can you be serious? Just for once? You could have died!" I just lean my head back, not actually caring. She mumbles something under her breath and pulls out two vials of something. It's a clear viscous liquid and it smells strong. She tosses them to Drago.

"Now, _Krasivaja zhenshhina_, this is going to sting for a second, but the majority of the pain 'll subside. Don't mean you're ready for action yet, _da_?" I just roll my eyes as he smirks and pops open the vial.

Suddenly, the wound goes cold and starts to sting like a bitch, making me jump back and cover it with my hand, "Fuck…" is all I mutter under my breath. Then, slowly, the pain starts to fade and is replaces by a tingly sensation. I slowly start to relax again for another application. This time, it's already numbed so there was no pain.

"Told you it was goin' to hurt," Drago says to me smirking as he hunts through the surrounding area for something, "if it was hurtin' that bad, I could have just held you." I can tell he's eyeing me up under those eye-blocking glasses. I can just tell. I just have my same agitated face on whenever he speaks to me. Suddenly he starts rummaging through the bar's inner counter. He pulls out 9 bottles of that enhanced vodka and a red metal box. Of course he goes after the vodka in the bar. "Anyone got a bag?" he asks, when there's no reply he just carries everything over in his hands, "I'm not missin' out on free drinks, I'll get them on the way out."

He pulls out this long white band and asks me to stand up. Hesitant, I do anyway. I lift my arms as he starts twirling the white stuff around my stomach where the wound is. He cuts it and secures it with some kind of metal hooking thing. Then he picks up one of the stronger shotguns and throws it at me. The initial impact of the shotgun hitting my arms was a little discomforting, but I managed to grab it and hold it normally.

"Oh, _net, net, net, Krasivaja zhenshhina_, that's for self-defense, no offense. You're in no shape for that." I just let out a depressing moan and put the shotgun's top against my shoulder and rest it there, "Well, what are we standing around for? Let's go!"

Great. I can't even use this thing. Wait a minute, when did I start listening to anyone? ##############################

Sorry you guys didn't hear anything from me yesterday, my school did this contest thing where you submit something and blah, blah, blah, you get a few options n' stuff. I was busy typing a quick story and I drew a painting. Since I go to a Catholic School (Yes, I know, the horror! I hate it here too, you know. Skirts are NOT my thing) it had to relate to Jesus. I'll post them on DeviantArt along with some sketches related to An Unsharpened Blade, the link will be on my profile. Thanks for reading another chapter of An Unsharpened Blade!

P.S. I'm making Serafim (Drago) have a bit more of a Russian accent. Adding Russian words more often, having him use her nickname more, abbreviating words, the whole kit-and-kaboodle. I even have a pic of what was in my mind when describing Serafim (Drago)'s Necklace.

P.P.S. There are probably a shit-ton of spelling errors, I just want to get this out to you guys! (I has homework to do, and a lot of it because I was too lazy to do it in class!)

_-Rogue_


	9. Chapter 9 - Tali'Zorah

Chapter 9

Finally, we're going somewhere. Every time I hold my shotgun in my combat position, someone always snatches it away. Annoying as hell, but whatever. It doesn't stop me. Shepard opens the door first to find two men not dressed in red like the rest of them, instead, blue. They pull out their guns and aim them like amateurs.

"Stop right there, don't come any closer!" They seem friendly, no?

"Warehouse workers? All the real guards must be dead." Garrus states as he lowers his gun to his hip.

"Stay back, or we'll shoot." Hm. They seem like nice people.

"Look, I don't want to hurt you. If you leave you won't end up like everyone in there did." Shepard says in his normal leader voice.

"Uhm… Well.. Uhh… Thanks." The one says while wiping sweat off of his forehead.

"Screw Fist, he doesn't pay us enough for this," the other mumbles as he and his partner walk out the door. We saved some lives today, let's hope we can save the Quarian's too. When did he become all nice and sunny? Back when we talked to Harkin he acted like there was a sword up his ass.

"Hm. Never would have thought of that," Garrus states as he watches the two men leave.

"Shooting people isn't always the answer," replies Ash. Hm, from the look of her back arsenal, I would have thought otherwise.

On the short walk to the next room, there's something that catches my eye. That's a weapon locker! I walk up to it and flip my shotgun so that the bunt is facing forward. I let the locker have it. I bang it about 10 times before the door gives in and then I rip it off manually. There's a red chip looking device and another pistol. I immediately go for the pistol, chucking the chip toward Shepard.

"You have no idea what this is, do you?" He asks with amazement in his eyes. I just shake my head as I check the pistol. It's almost brand new! Way stronger than what Ash gave me, "It's a weapon upgrade. It gives your gun 'Incendiary Ammo,' and I assume you don't know what that is either?" he asks with a smirk, looking closer at the chip. Again I just shake my head, "It makes your gun practically shoot fire. If your target doesn't die from bullet holes, this'll get 'em." He tosses it back and I catch it in my hand with my eyes still firmly on this new pistol. Damn! It's so nice looking… So shiny…

I walk up to Ash and hand her my shotgun and my chip. I have no idea how to apply this thing, mine as well give it to a Gunnery-Chief. Whatever that is, "Wonderful, a new shotgun," she says smiling. I stand there puzzled, I thought she knew I got one, and that-, "That was a joke, and I assume you want me to upgrade your gun?" Oh. I feel like an ass. I nod my head and she picks up my gun, pulls down a compartment in the handle and looks at all the wires inside, "You know, this is where ammo would go in a 21st century gun. Now it's just wire, a whole 'lotta wires." She places the chip in and slides the bottom back up. With a clank, she pumps the shotgun and tosses it to me. That was fast.

We head through the door to see some guy in an actually decent looking area. Well, until he turns around with a pistol and starts to go guns-a-blazing. We all get into cover. Drago, Ash, Kaiden, and Wrex on the side we came from, Shepard, Garrus, and Me on this side. Well then. The man gets into cover behind a sofa.

"Shit, it's Fist!" yells Shepard to everyone, practically signaling to shoot him until he dies. Just as I peak my head out of cover, two turrets come out of some boxes and target me, making me jump back into cover. Well, fuck. I throw a biotic power at it, making one of the turrets start to rip to pieces as both Shepard and Garrus shoot their snipers almost simultaneously at it, making it explode. Then I see Kaiden do the same to the other, less powerful as mine. Ash starts shooting it with her Assault Rifle until sparks fly out and the gun gets broken off. Now it's just 7v1. Us versus Fist. Looks like the odds are on our side.

For the first time I see Drago pop out of cover and shoot him like a marksman, right in the leg. Once he's about to shoot the execution shot, we all hear "Wait!" Naturally, we all stand on guard but don't move a muscle after. "I surrender!" Shepard lowers his gun a bit and walks toward the crippled man.

"Smart move surrendering, now where's the Quarian?" he asks. Damn, Shepard's voice is pretty damn scary when he wants it to be.

"She's not here! I don't know where she is, that's the truth." Fists responds. We must have scared the living shit out of him.

Ash puts her hand on her hip, shifting her weight and rolling her eyes, "He's lying."

"Tell me everything you know." He demands as he gives Ash a glare.

"I-I don't know where she is, but she's not here. I know where you can find her, she said she'd only deal with the Shadow Broker himself!"

"Impossible, the Shadow Broker only works through agents," implies Kaiden. That's good to know for later.

"Nobody ever meets the Shadow Broker. Ever. Even I don't know his true identity," he says a bit stronger, "but she didn't know that. I told her I'd set a meeting up. When she show's up, it'll be Saren's men waiting for her."

"What's her name?" asks Shepard, taking a step closer while checking his gun totally nonchalantly.

"T-Tali! Tali'Zorah...Zorah something!" He says. He must be pissing his pants. Armor. Whatever.

Wait… No… That girl I met in the bathroom… It can't seriously be her? Fuck! We're going after her. I put my shotgun up into his face, "Where is she?" I say in a deep mumbled voice. When there's no response, I ram the top of it into his forehead, keeping it there, "WHERE THE FUCK IS SHE!?" I yell to him.

"H-Here on the wards! The-The back ally by the markets! She's supposed to meet them right now! You can-" and with that, I suck up all the pain from my wound and turn it into adrenaline. Of course, once I'm at the door I realize I have no fucking idea how to navigate the Citadel. Shepard runs in front of me and leads the way. All of a sudden I hear a shotgun go off behind me. I turn around to see an all-to-satisfied Krogan laughing at his kill. Me and this big guy are going to be good friends. I charge off towards Shepard. Nothing is stopping me. Nothing.

####################################

We had to shoot our way through Chora's Den on the way out. We as in everyone else, since Drago put me on probation from my gun. Bastard. I can't wait to use this new upgrade though. Shepard leads me up a set of steps and opens a door. All of a sudden, the dark area is lit up by red lights. We head up the steps in front of us and I see her there. As I'm about to turn this Turian's ass into red pulp, Shepard pulls me into cover and covers my mouth while practically hugging me. We both sit like that and listen in to their conversation.

"Did you bring it?" A Turian asks while walking up to her. He's practically touching her, making her take a step back.

"Where's the Shadow Broker? Where's Fist?" She asks curiously but with a strong voice. Damn. She's got some [metaphorical] balls of steel. I see Drago and Kaiden signal everyone to get back, stay quiet, and stay in cover.

He starts rubbing his hand down from her head and down her arm, "They'll be here. Where's the evidence?"

She slaps his hand away, causing his anger to flare up. I can tell by his face, "No way. The deal's off." Well, she's pretty straight forward. I can assume you have to be when talking to one of Saren's men. Well, she thinks they're from the Shadow Broker and Fist. But, whatever.

He takes a step back and nods his head, causing two Salarians to emerge from the back. Fucker brought backup. Once Tali realizes the situation she's in, she grabs something from her side and tosses it at the two Salarians. Nothing happens for a few seconds. What the fu- all of a sudden they both explode and they both fly back. Presumably dead. Salarians are brittle little fucks, aren't they?

Two more emerge from the back. Shepard pulls out his sniper while letting go of me. I'm going to smash that Turian fuck's face in. I feel the anger build up in me. What's he got? A pistol? That it? Little fucker's going DOWN! I watch closely. If I run too early, I'm going to get shot to death by some Salarians. Ehh, No. That's not happening. Run too late, someone else would have killed the Turian. Don't want that, either. I have to run once the second Salarian goes down.

Shepard snipes the one Salarian in the arm, but his shields reflect the bullet and a stray sniper bullet comes from behind me, landing one right in his balls. I turn around to see Garrus laughing as the Salarian is immediately crippled, and Shepard delivers a good ol' headshot, making his head turn into red mush. Both Garrus and Shepard start bursting into laughter after that kill.

I turn my head right to notice the other Salarian. Kaiden has him pinned to the wall with some biotics as Ash shoots him with some pistol rounds. Once his shields are down, she pulls out her AR and peppers him with bullets.

Now! I charge for the Turian while putting on some barriers. He starts to shoot and run away. His aim is sloppy, I get pegged only 3 times and my barrier deflected all three. The rest whizzed past my body. I jump onto him and tackle him on the ground. I pull out my shotgun and slam it on his legs, making a horrible cracking noise. When I hear him scream I stand up off of him and do a body slam. Not a regular body slam, but one where I ram the blunt of the shotgun into his back, making him scream again. I stand back up and put the gun right into his face, "Don't _ever_ fuck with me. _Ever_." And with that, his face is blown into hundreds of tiny chunks and my gun's barrel has a fine layer of blood on the tip.

I turn around to see all eyes are on me. I wipe away some stray blood dripping into my eyes from those kills a little while ago. I can't believe this shit hasn't just hardened yet. Tali hasn't even noticed me yet. Good.

"Fist set me up! I knew I couldn't trust him!" exclaims Tali as she talk to Shepard n' Crew.

"Are you okay? You weren't hurt were you?" Shepard asks with a concerning voiced. Well, he went from pissed to calm. Mood swings much?

"I know how to look after myself. Not that I don't appreciate the help. Who are you?" Tali asks. I have the urge to introduce myself, but instead I just cover it up by looking at my gun.

"My name's Peter Shepard. I'm looking for evidence that Saren's a traitor." He replied. Wait… Kaiden Alenko, Peter Shepard. I'm confused, why do people have two different names? Wait… And I'm Kitana Blade. I still don't get it.

"Then I have a chance to repay you for saving my life, but not here. We need to go somewhere safe." Well, that sounds good 'n all, but how will she react when she finds out I'm the blood-soaked girl from the bathroom?

"We could take her to the human embassy, your Ambassador would want to see this anyway." Says Garrus. Oh yeah, that Udina guy or whatever.

To the Embassy we go! Well, I guess that would be good and all… if of course all of my adrenaline didn't wear off by now. My wound is hurting _way_ more than last time. I have such genius plans, don't I?

####################################

We walk out of the room, Tali and Shepard in the front talking while everyone trails behind. Me being the furthest back, then Drago, Garrus and Kaiden, then Wrex and Ash. Nobody is really socializing except Shepard and Tali, since Shepard makes friends with everyone apparently.

I see Drago slow down and starts to walk beside me, "So, _Krasavitza_, want to explain your sudden outburst back there? You barely speak two words then you start screamin'. You okay?" I just look away. As always, that doesn't stop him from talking, "If you don't wan'a talk about it, that's fine an' dandy, but you really should becau-"

I've fuckin' had it. I'm not in the mood for this, "Do you _ever_ shut-the-fuck-UP?" I didn't even realize I raised my voice at the end. All of a sudden, all eyes are on me again.

"Look, Kitana, I don't mean to agitate you all the time but-" Did he not get the hint?

"I suggest you fuckin' can it before I can it for you." And with that, I don't hear another word from him. Instead, he just looks at his necklace with a slight frown. Fucker deserved it. I barely realized that they all stopped walking to see what I was yelling about. Oh well. Wait. Fuck. If I spoke that loud that means…

"Wait… _Kitana_?" Yep. Shit. Tali heard me, and my name. That ruined everything.

"You two know each other?" Ash asks immediately, as curious as everyone else. I just face palm, dragging some blood down my face in the process. The sooner I get one of those… _showers_ I think they're called, the better.

"We met in the bathroom earlier. I avoided her because of… Uhm… That…" She says pointing to me. When everyone still stares quizzically I scoop that undried blood off my face and chuck it on the ground. Making everyone just put on 'Ooooh, how could I have been so stupid' faces.

I push myself through the crowd and put my face next to hers. She's a jumpy one, that's for sure. She jumps back but I drag her back, "I told you I could explain," I whisper into her ear. When I pull back smiling, her head bobs up and down, probably examining me, before she bursts into laughter. It wasn't that funny! No! Stop laughing! Dammit! Mother... Ugh. Nobody ever understands me. Maybe she heard me wrong? "What?" when she's still laughing I just ask again but I can't help to smirk while doing so. It's actually kind of funny how she's laughing at nothing. "What?" I ask again.

She finally regains some composure but quickly loses it again when she's about to start speaking, putting her arms across her stomach still laughing. She finally spits out, "I was just thinking of back where we met. You were covered in blood in a bathroom!"

I don't get it. I know I was… Oh… Oh you little fucker you! My quizzical face turns into a smirk, then smile, then I start laughing too. It makes my wound hurt like a little bitch, but I can't help it. I feel tears roll down my cheeks as both of us laugh. Suddenly, Ash starts laughing. She _finally_ got the joke. Once Shepard sees all the girls laugh, he soon joins in. Soon, everyone starts to realize the joke. After our laugher has subsided we all continue our walk to the Embassy. I walk with a smirk on my face back at the back of the group. I feel less angry for one, I guess laugher is a type of medicine. Metaphorically of course.

Now, to finally get this evidence to the apparent shitty-ass Council. Boy, this seems fun.

####################################

**A/N: I looked back at the pervious chapter and was like "What. Da. Fuq. Did. FF. DO?!" The A/N weren't bolded, the line was off… I was an angry Rogue. Oh well. If this comes out like last issue, I'll be a VERY angry Rogue.**

**I'm **_**VERY**_** pleased to announce that An Unsharpened Blade has 10 followers! Every time there is another a little buzz of joy goes through me. I get all happy happy joy joy when I read my email on my phone to see it, AND when I see new reviews. Especially the last few, Thanks for the suggestion guys!**

**10 Followers:  
sami217 [Thanks for the Fav, too!]  
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**Thanks, Guys n' Gals**

**Q/A: **_**"Krasivaja zhenshhina" is a nice nickname, but it's quite long and sometimes doesn't fit good into sentences. What do you think about shorter "Krasavitza"? ("Beauty" for non-Russian speakers).**_

**I, too, realized both of those aspects, but I didn't think of anything better. BUUUUT… Thanks to you, I have a better one! Thanks, I liked it so much I added it into the story. (So, in short, thanks Endrius333.)**

**This is a reply to a Review with **_**Great**_** constructive criticism! Thanks!:**

**I did notice the event thing, mainly the action scenes. I do indeed try and get through the monologue quickly since Kitana really has no true role in them, but I keep them in since some people who haven't played the game are reading this too and they need to understand the situation.**

**I was never too keen on Kaiden's behavior in the game, since normally Garrus and Tali took up my squad, so I'm **_**very**_** sorry when he seems out of character, if you have some pointers I'd really like to take them. As for Shepard, I'm just playing as my first Shepard (Even though she was a girl named Stella, regardless). She was mostly a Paragon but Renegade whenever she needed to be one, but I'm balancing it more, but this will indeed by a Paragon Shepard. (when I first played ME1, I actually didn't understand the Paragon/Renegade idea and I didn't understand the dialogue wheel, so I had to go by my gut _)**

**I get my idea of Drago from Remy (Gambit) from X-Men, but things 'll progress and everything will be explained. Nobody really knows anything about him other than his name, race, face, and the fact that his parents are dead (And he pisses Kitana off to no end)**

_**-Rogue**_


	10. Chapter 10 - Armor

Chapter 10

"You're not making my life easy Shepard." Well, I hate this little shit already. We just show up after kicking some ass, and this is the response? "Firefight in the Wards, and all-out assault in Chora's Den. Do you know how many-" He stops speaking to glare at Tali and me. "Who's this? Quarian and that one? What are you up to, Shepard?" He's a bit of a prick, ain't he? I glance over to Ash and see her face, he's totally stressing her out just by his presence.

"Making your day, Ambassador, she has information linking Saren to the Geth." Replies Shepard with his head held high while gesturing toward Tali. I guess this prick has a higher rank than Shepard.

"And the other one?" Oh, shit. He's practically death staring me. What do I do? Shit, shit, shit! Why doesn't he care about the Krogan or the Turian! No, he cares about the… Blood… soaked…. Okay, never mind. Mental face palm all the way, here.

"She's useful. That's all I can say, Sir." Ash replies like Shepard did. So, he's a higher rank then both of them? Why isn't he wearing armor like everyone else? Shepard nods his head, making Udina roll his eyes.

He looks back to Tali, "Well, maybe you should start at the beginning, Miss…" Why does everyone do that? They all do that miss thing when they don't know your name.

"My name is Tali. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya."

Udina folds his arms, "We don't see many Quarians here. Why did you leave the Flotilla?"

Tali starts pacing while explaining, "I was on my Pilgramage. My rite of passage into adulthood." Wait, how many sleeps is she? She looks as many sleeps as me, maybe less.

Shepard looks over to her and raises an eyebrow, "I've never heard of this before."

"It is a tradition among my people. When we reach maturity we leave the ships of our parents and our people behind. Alone, we search the stars. Only returning to the Flotilla once we have discovered something of value. This way, we prove ourselves worthy of adulthood." That must suck-ass.

"What kinds of things do you look for?"

"It could be resources like food or fuel, or some type of useful technology. Or even knowledge that will make life easier on the Flotilla." Interesting. "On our Pilgrimage we prove to the Flotilla that we will contribute to community, rather than a burden from out limited resources."

"Tell us what you found." Shepard, man of few words when he's not being an ass.

"During my travels, I began hearing reports on Geth. Since they drove my people into exile, they never ventured beyond the Veil. I was curious." She pauses for a bit before continuing, "I tracked a patrol of Geth to an uncharted world. I waited for one to become separated from its unit, then I disabled it and removed its memory core."

An older man speaks up, "I thought the Geth fried their memory cores when they died. Some kind of defense mechanism.

Shepard turns back to Tali, "How did you preserve the memory core?"

"My people created the Geth. If you're quick, careful, and lucky," Gee. Lucky. That sounds very professional of you there, "small caches of data can sometimes be saved. Most of the quarrel was wiped clean, but I salvaged something from its audio banks."

She begins messing around with her Omni-Tool and a voice begins to speak while everyone listens carefully, "Eden Prime was a major victory. The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit."

The older man speaks up again, this time a lot more hyper, "That's Saren's voice! This proves he was involved in the attack!"

Shepard gets into a more comfortable position, he really seems relaxed when talking to this man rather than the other beside him, "He said Eden Prime brought him one step closer to finding the Conduit. Any idea what that means?"

"The Conduit must have something to do with the beacon. Maybe it's some kind of Prothean technology… Like a weapon."

Shepard's about to reply when Tali speaks up, "Wait, there's more, Saren wasn't working alone."

Again, she mucks around with the Omni-Tool and it plays more audio. Saren says the same thing again, but at the end there's a female voice, "And one step closer to the return of the Reapers."

Bastard-Udina speaks up again, "I don't recognize that voice. The one talking about 'the return of the Reapers.'"

Shepard turns to Tali, "Are they some kind of new alien species?"

"According to the memory core, the Reapers were a type of hyper-advanced machine race that existed 50,000 years ago." She is getting way too into this. Her voice gets louder and starts using a lot of body language, "They hunted down the Protheans to total extinction then they vanished!" She composes herself, "At least that's what the Geth believe."

Udina folds his arms, "Sounds a little far-fetched."

Shepard turns to Udina and speaks up, "The visions I had on Eden Prime. I understand them now. I saw the Protheans being wiped out by the Reapers." Oh yes. Visions. He says that so nonchalantly. Dammit, man, you're watching machines slaughter aliens! Do you not care? Again, hypocritical, I don't think I'd care. They're not me, anyway.

"The Geth revere the Reapers as gods, the pinnacle of non-organic life. And they believe Saren knows how to bring the Reapers back." Explains Tali while looking back over to Udina. I think we all expect him to say something.

Udina lowers his head and shakes it, "The Council is just going to _love_ this." Yep. He said it. The Council must be a useless bunch if they deny it.

"The Reapers are a threat to every species in Citadel space," Shepard states, "We have to tell them."

Here comes the old man again, this time more hyped up then before, "No matter what they think of the rest of this, those audio files prove Saren's a traitor!

Udina unfolds his arms, "The Captain's right. We need to present this to the Council right away." Wait, was that something… positive coming from his mouth? Well then, he's not that much of a dick.

Wrex speaks up, gesturing towards Tali, "What about her? The Quarian."

Body language is showing up again when she looks over to Wrex, "The name is Tali." She looks toward Shepard, "You saw me in the Ally, Commander! You saw what I can do! Let me come with you."

"I thought you were on a Pilgrimage?" Shepard asks. Is he stupid or something? The Pilgrimage doesn't restrict anything from what I've heard, it's just some rite of passage.

"Our Pilgrimage proves our willing to give of ourselves for a greater good. What does it say about me if I turn my back on this? Saren is a danger to the entire Galaxy. My Pilgrimage can wait." Oh, yeah! Score one for Kitana, Zero for Shepard.

Shepard thinks for a moment. He does that noddy-noddy thing toward everyone and everyone again just nods, "I'll take all the help I can get. Get your things and go to Docking Bay 422. Tell Joker that Shepard sent you."

Instead, she just stands next to Shepard, "Thanks. You won't regret this."

"Anderson and I will get things ready for the Council. Take a few minutes to collect yourselves then meet us in the tower." All of a sudden he glares at me with eyes of fury, "And if you're coming, wash that stuff off." Well, fuck you too! And with that, he and that older man, apparently Anderson, walk off.

Shepard sighs, "Alright then. We need some armor and Kitana to get patched up. I guess we'll just head back to the Normandy." And with that, we're off.

###############################

Well, fuck. The Medi-Gel wore off after the removal of the bullet shrapnel in my stomach and now Dr. Chakwas is patching up my wound. Damn, this hurts. She keeps telling me to stop being such a baby and take it, and that doesn't help much.

"You know, you shouldn't be parading around with shotguns with no armor. This can happen." She says while getting half-way through stitches.

"You know, that Medi-Gel shit normally dulls pain. This can hurt." I reply with a smart-ass tone. She just laughs as she expertly nears the end of stitches.

"You know, after this you're going to need this scar to be taken care of, and don't expect Medi-Gel, it only hurts as much as a shot."

"Yes, and 'shots' normally hurt like a bitch. That's why I applied Medi-Gel to it." It's weird, I'm a lot more open with her. I guess because there's nobody else around.

"Shot as in _needle_ not bullets. I assume you have no idea what that is," I just shake my head, "Well then, that metaphor is out the metaphorical window." She has an English accent. Funny.

When she finishes she grabs some kind of small device, almost like a flashlight, "Uhh... The fuck is that?"

She sighs with a hint of playfulness, "Just hold still."

She begins to shine a laser on my skin. Well, this burns like a _bitch_. I don't know what needles feel like, but I don't think they hurt this much. She begins with my stomach wound from the shot. She takes it slow and with precision. My pink and red bumpy skin is replaced by a smoother pinkish skin that mostly matches my skin tone. She removes some of the other minor ones a bit faster and even the one on my cheek. Wow, that was pretty awesome.

"Well, you're all done," she says rolling away on her little spinning chair with wheels. She starts typing up on her computer some stuff I manage to get a glimpse of. It's a document of all my wounds from today, the ones she's healed, ones she's seen, and even ones she thinks are previous wounds. Wow. She's pretty damn precise.

I stand up and nod my head towards her as I walk out and see Ash and Drago talking at a table in the center of the room, Kaiden neck-deep in some machine he's looking at.

"Eh, _Krasavitza_, come join us. We're talking about armor." I glance to Ash and she just nods her head. Hesitantly, I walk over and sit next to Ash, "Why don't you sit next to m-" all of a sudden I see Ash glare angrily. She moves as if she's kicked something as Drago cringes, "Y' Know what? Never mind. You sit wherever you want to." He glares at Ash as he says it.

She replies with a simple smirk and looks towards me, "What armor are you looking for? Heavy, Medium, or Light? From the stuff you get into, I suggest heavy, but it's up to you." I glance down at the piece of paper next to them with a poorly drawn sketch of armor. I assume that's what Drago wants, and it looks like it'll weigh a ton. None the less, it looks pretty cool.

I grab the paper and Drago passes me the pencil. I start out by drawing my body when I saw it in the mirror, mainly just a sketch of my body except for the face. I begin to add pieces of armor to it. I need to be light on my feet and with a lot of maneuverability unlike everyone else's armor. I add two wrist pieces, one of which is an Omni-Tool display, my right one, other is for protection, my left. I make it so that blades slide out from the top of my left one though, two blades actually. I make sure they lock back into my wrist when I'm not using them. I add a reinforced breast-plate and reinforced armor on my stomach. I add some shoulder guards and some armor to the top of the arms. I make my way to the hand, where I add some armor to the top of the hand and some armor spikes on the knuckles, while adding some protection on the elbow, thinking back to the Assassin fight. I make the lower leg and knee armor attach to each other and add some armor to the feet, making sure there are 2 join movement areas. I add some protection to the upper legs and lower torso. I add a few details here and there for some show, and on my right arm armor piece, I add a picture of a wolf. I make the helmet and add tinted black mask so my face is invisible and add a camera type of device on the top, so I can get clear zooming. I go ahead and do I sketch of what I want the HUD to look like inside. I go ahead and add some Augmented Reality in there because why not?

"Wow." Is all Ash says, "You're a _really_ good drawer!" Really? Uhm, thanks? I was hoping she was talking about the armor but, whatever.

Drago glances at it, "You sure you want that?" I nod my head, "What colors?"

"Blue. Ice blue and a rose pink." I say.

Ash just nods her head, "Well, looks like we're going to the Citadel's best armor shop. I can't wait so see how yours comes out." As we're about to get up from our seats, Ash asks a question towards Drago, "Why's your armor so big, anyway?"

"Heavy armor. I'm going up in the front lines. After seeing _Krasavitza_'s I kind of regret it. Though, I like it still. Looks awesome."

We head off in our separate directions, Drago gets something to drink, Ash goes into the armory, and I go into her room for another shower. Fine times ahead, no?

###############################

"That's what you want?" says the Asari. I assume this is Junie, since this is "Junie's Armor Plus." This place had excellent reviews. I don't know what they are, but Ash said it means it's a good place.

I nod my head and casually look around the room. She goes on her computer in the back and begins typing like a mad-woman. After a minute or two she returns to the desk.

"It's possible, but it'll be costly." She says while pointing to an interactive screen next to me, "Go ahead and look at it and make sure it's what you want."

Ash and Drago follow me over to the screen while I twist and turn the armor making sure it looks right. I look at all the specs and tap the painting tools and put on the wolf on my shoulder. Completely black with eyes of two colors. One is green, the other is purple. I flick it around some more and add the exact color of blue and pink wherever I feel the need to, keeping the under layer of black the darkest I can make it. I tinted the visor black on my helmet dark black. This looks way cooler then I imagined.

"The Alliance fund will cover the costs, don't worry." Oh, really? Then I'm adding some shields to this thing. Shields and my barriers will be great. I max up the shield core and that's when it hits me. Fuck. I'll melt my suit. I zoom into my hands and remove the fingertips and the palm part of the suit.

"What're you doin'?" Drago asks.

"I'll blow up my suit with my… abilities." I reply in a hushed tone, so that nobody can hear me other than Ash and Drago.

"Make them collapsible then, because if you go into an unpressurised room... Let's just say that that's not fun." Ash says while moving around the image making some adjustments. Damn, she knows her armor, "I'll look around for some kind of metal to channel that electric thing you do, and something for the heat. That way, you won't need to collapse them every time you use it." Like I normally do, I just nod.

We walk back to Junie, "You're wearing… significantly less armor than usual. You wear armor like you wear clothes." She says looking me up and down. I'm just wearing an N7 tank top with the stripe down my right side, those eye blockers called _sunglasses,_ and black cargo pants with my pistol at my side, shotgun across my lower back.

"I've got barriers. Hell'a strong ones too." I say proudly.

The Asari snorts, probably because of how I look. It's comfortable as fuck, but it doesn't fit in. Normally girls wear dresses, not pants. Good thing I'm not normal, "Uh-huh. I bet you're strong in _many_ places." She says in a velvety voice while winking. Huh? I don't get it. Whatever. "It'll take about _a day_ since I have to make it from scratch. Come back tomorrow around… Let's say 6. Or 9 if you want dinner first." I hear Ash laugh a bit behind me while I stand there puzzled. I don't understand, why would I want dinner before getting my armor from her?

I hear shuffling steps behind me and see Drago walk up to the Asari, "Do you have an Omni-Tool?" The Asari walks into the back and grabs a small chip. That's an Omni-Tool? Why is everything in small chip forms? Drago turns on his Omni-Tool and what looks like pays for it. Wow, his Omni-Tool is red. How'd he do that? He turns around and walks up to me grabbing my arm. Suddenly he just slaps it on and it boots up, "Jus' think of when you want to use it. It connects to neu- Your brain, and it'll activate, _Da_?"

I don't respond because I'm too busy looking at the Omni-Tool start up and close on command. So cool… Suddenly I feel someone put their hand on my shoulder. Ash. She says some thanks and goodbyes and drags me and Drago out of the store, "Shepard needs us on the Normandy, pronto." And with that, we're off.

At least Drago and I are getting our hands on some armor. Just… A day… One day… Not a few, just one. Now to figure out what a day is.

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**This one was a bit lengthy, but that damn monologue with Tali was there. Next stop: Armorville! There's some sketches of the basic idea of Kitana's armor on my DeviantArt (Link on Profile).**

**Reply to Constructive Criticism again! Love yeh' CuHnadian:**

**Sadly, I didn't even realize that about Kitana and the Citadel. Sorry about that one.**

**I did realize that about Kaiden too. Even when one of my **_**many**_** Shepards romanced him. Even after the Game of Thrones action goin' on (What me and my friends call it :3) before Ilos, he still seemed to have a chainsaw up his ass about his military duty and stuff. And about Shep, I understand the laughter part, but those psycho tendencies are actually from the game, except the talk with Harkin. That'll be explained later on.**

**I like to stress characters in the beginning, then smooth out their behavior. Like Tali laughing. She's very much a child in the first game, then **_**really**_** matures in the second. In the first game she was very hyper and jumpy, which was one of the reasons I loved her in the first game, which goes for Ash too. I loved Wrex for his attitude and hilarious outputs, and Garrus because he's Garrus ('Nuff said). I do understand the laughing part, I needed something bright to happen for later things to come.**

**Thanks for the output.**

_**-Rogue**_


	11. Chapter 11 - Junie

Chapter 11

Shepard called us all into the room behind some wall on the main floor. I don't understand the point of the wall, but that's not very important. There's just enough seats here fit all of us, so let's just hope nobody new comes aboard. Standing from the door and from left to right, there's Kaiden, Drago, Ash, me, then 3 computer things, then Shepard, Tali, Garrus, and Wrex. I sit with my fingers weaved together, resting my head in my hands and leaning back while sitting with my legs crossed. Tight fit, but comfy.

Shepard gets out of his chair, "Alright, I assume you're all wondering why I've brought you here." When there's silence he just clears his throat and smirks, "Well thanks for ruining the buildup. Anyway, I have to go present the information to the Council, even though the chances of that helping are slim. I'd prefer to not upset Udina in the process, so I'm going to bring two humans," He looks towards the right side of the room, "No offence."

"None taken, you're not the racist here," Replies Garrus, I notice Ash moving uncomfortably in her seat when he says that, I don't think anyone else noticed, though. That's good… I think.

Shepard just nods his head toward Garrus and continues, "Out of the four of you, I think Lieutenant Commander Alenko and Gunnery Chief Williams would be the best. Since Kitana didn't make the better of first appearances and Drago isn't Alliance, you two, let's just say Udina wouldn't be quite about it for the next century."

"No complaints here, _Komandir_," Drago says as he leans back into his seat and adjusts his sunglasses.

Shepard nods, "Just so we're clear, nobody leaves the ship while we're gone," he leans against the railing and signs, "that includes you, Kitana." Well, gee thanks for soloing me out. "Alright. Alenko and Williams, armor up and meet me at the front of the ship in 5. Dismissed."

As we're getting up, someone tugs me on the arm and pulls me back into the room. It's Ash, her perfume is strong as hell. She makes me face her, "Y'know he's serious. Don't go wandering off. Last time you did you ended up sleeping in a bar. Don't do it again." She's staring directly through these sunglasses of mine. Damn. I hesitantly nod my head, "I mean it." I nod my head a bit stronger and she lets go of my arm. Now, to figure out what to do.

I walk just outside of the room with Ash and head for the steps, going down to sit at the round table while everyone else leaves to do whatever except Drago. He grabs two drinks and sits with me.

"Here, it's not liquor this time," he says smiling, "unless you want some?" I shake my head thinking of what Ash said. And to how I woke up in Chora's Den. "You don't speak much unless you have to. Why's that?"

I attempt to dismiss the conversation by rolling my eyes and drinking… water? I thought only my gal- _cell_. My cell had this. Though, it tastes different. Less like ass and more pure… I guess is a way of describing it.

"You know, what you're doin' isn't very distracting. Though, I could think of _many_ more distracting things you could do, _Krasavitza._" He smirks as he says it.

Wait? I thought Omni-Tools translated things. I open up my Omni-Tool and start to navigate through the options. I open up languages and start to scroll through the list. Wow. I contains everything. Every type of dialect to every definition. Holy shit, there's a lot of Asari languages… I open up the Human folder when Drago puts his hand on my wrist and lowers it from my face.

"I removed Russian from your languages. I pre-ordered it before we showed up." He says with that same smirk on his face. Bastard. "How else did you think I could just ask for an Omni-Tool and not have to look through a thousand of them?" I don't know! I didn't even know Omni-Tools were chips. "So, about you not talking. You say things when I agitate you enough. This not enough?"

Wait, so the fucker is actually _trying_ to bother me now? I get up while slamming the cup on the table. I didn't even realize it wasn't glass until the heat from my hands started morphing it. I'm about to get on the elevator when I realize that shit takes forever to move, so instead I just jog up the steps and head for the front of the ship. On the walk, I hear the same guys from when I first got here whistling as I walk by. Same guys from the _Crew Quarters_. I can smell them. I just sit on the pipes just out front of the ship, letting out a huge sigh as I do so. This is going to be a _long_ time. I can just feel it.

I sat here until Ash, Kaidan, and Shepard left, and I've done absolutely nothing other than sit on the pipes. The hum of them is relaxing, but boring. There has to be a way to leave the ship. Only way out is through Joker though who… hasn't attended the meeting! Duh, Kitana why didn't you think of this sooner? I just get up and head for the door. When I'm in the decontamination area a radio fizzles.

"Uhh, what do you think you're doing?" I hear Joker say. Shit, did Shepard tell him not to let me through?

"Leaving for a bit." I reply. I have my hands in my pockets and leaning against the wall looking as relaxed as possible, considering I have no idea if there are cameras in here.

"Did the Commander say you could?" he asks. Well, no. But that won't stop me from leaving.

"Yes. Call 'im if you want," is all I say proudly. I'm a pretty good liar. I hope to stay that way.

I hear a sigh and the door slides up. Holy shit! I did it! Alright then, time to make the best of this opportunity. I walk out as calmly as I could but I darted for the elevator to go down. I must have hit the button a hundred times in the excitement.

#########################################

I ended up just going to Junie's shop again since I don't know anywhere else. She started talking but I ended up zoning out looking at the top of a huge building. It has a crosswalk that goes over across a busy area. Busy as in those cars are flying above and below rapidly. I need to get up there. I look Junie in the eyes through my sunglasses. "Take me up there." I say as I point to the bridge.

"Nobody is allow-"

"Does it look like I care?" I ask while sighing.

She looks around and starts to think. She's pretty young, I can tell you that. Her face markings consist of a dagger looking mark on her left eye with two lines emerging on the top right portion that go a bit diagonal. Under her right eye a bit is two lines. The top one a bit wavy, the one under it is wavy on the top but has some sharp, square like, edges. It traces around her eye almost, and on the corner of her eye there's two almost paint strokes as marks. On her lip there's a rectangle facing vertically in the center, and a smaller square under it. I didn't realize how cool they looked. She's got a very rounded facial features, but her jaws are a bit more prominent.

Suddenly, her face turns a bit of a lighter blue. Huh? What's wrong? "Why're you staring?" I just shrug and she leaves the counter and walks to the door while I just stand there. "Well, are you coming?" Oh… Oh shit! That's a yes!

We walk out and I see a dark blue car. Looks like the taxi… and every other car here. The top flips open and I sit in the passenger side. The holographic board comes up when she gets in and closes the lid. I look around at all the options. Wait... I know these. I know all of these! I close my eyes and remember having to do one of these just by listening. I was pretty good considering I couldn't see then. I remember all the mental pictures. I don't even realize I've been frowning thinking of the times back then. Good thing Junie has already started to lift off and drive, or else she would have notices. I just look out the side area to cover up my upset face.

"So… is there any specific reason you're going up there?" She asks. I just shake my head weakly. She just keeps her eyes on the rest of the cars as she navigates the city. "You don't speak much, do you?" She asks. Again, I just shake my head. She sighs as we approach the bridge. It turns out, it's more of a tube-like structure. I watch people walk through it to the next building while some stop to look through the windows. She lands on the right building, the one a bit smaller than the other.

"Thanks," I mutter as I hop out of the seat. I feel the wind up here whip through my hair. I feel do free up here… So alive. I realize that the car behind me doesn't lift off, instead it just sits there and feet shuffle behind me.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" She asks. When I don't respond, she just keeps talking, "This is the better part of the Citadel. I like it here, I guess. Not much to do other then run an armor shop." She says with a giggle.

I see some other cars begin their way up here. They have blue and orange flashing lights on them with white cars. I think they're about to pass right by but instead they loop around and are about land on the building. Shit! I can read "Citadel Security" on the side! I push the oblivious Junie into the car and slam the door down while grabbing a piece of black cloth from the car

"What're you doing?" She asks through the car.

"Go! Go! Go!" I yell signaling her to move. I've been meaning to test out this biotics thing to a whole new level, anyway. I turn around and tie on the cloth so it covers the bottom half of my face, coving from my nose down.

The two cars land and three Turians approach me, since the one of the right had two people in it. "So, Ma'am, you do know this is a restricted area?" I nod, "Then you have to leave." This time, I shake my head. "We're going to have to bring you down then." He says while advancing to me.

I turn to the left and dart. I use biotics to help me run a bit faster and I can see the edge. I hear some shouts from the Turians behind me and it doesn't stop me. I feel my feet through my sneakers touch the edge and I make a jump. I use my biotics and pull me up while I use some of the gravity changing biotic thing to make an orb below me, cushioning my fall further. I tap down and roll on the ground. I turn around to look at them behind me, but it's so damn hard to see through these glasses. I just rip them off my head and toss them off the bridge.

"Get her!" I hear the one Turian shout as I feel something suction to my skin. It's from a lightweight sniper looking thing. I feel it attempt to send some shocks through me, but it's impervious from my ability. Wait, there's wire attached to it… I pull the wire sending the Turian half-way from falling off the edge and the gun to come barreling down off the building. His buddies help him up as I turn around and face off the edge.

I have to time this just right… just… right. That small amount of time I could miss is what will turn me into splatter on the ground or mush on the front of the car. I send another one of those orbs in front of where the cars normally go, but I make it much, much stronger for it to slow it down. I can hear the C-Sec behind me. I keep my eyes firmly where I put the orb. C'mon! Hurry! I see an all-too familiar dark blue car come from behind me, right where my orb is. It slows down as I do a hop on the top of it, using my biotics to anchor me to it as it speeds up. C-Sec long gone behind us, we make our way through the crowds and back to Junie's shop.

"You're an ass, you know that?" I hear Junie say through the car as I slide to the right side to get off the door-hood. I weave my fingers to rest my head on my palms. I lay on the right strut thing with my right leg hanging off the side.

"Mhmm," I mumble as she slides up the door, "And you're the ass who saves the ass."

"No, I'm just the hero who saves the ass." She says as she lays next to me with her hands on her stomach staring up into the sky. I close my eyes to just enjoy the moment.

"You could have gotten caught." I say with actual concern in my voice. If she got caught, it all would have been my fault.

"I don't care. I didn't see any concern of being caught from you," She says. There's a pause as she inhales, "Ass."

"I don't think I like the new nickname," I say with a laugh. Laughing as become a bit easier since Tali. I'm glad, I don't think this would be enjoyable if I were a groggy bitch.

"Well, I didn't catch your name. Your friend, Ashley, she filled everything out. Serafim filled out the Omni-Tool papers. Are you and him…?"

Oh shit… Is she wondering if we're friends? "No. I don't even like him. He just follows me around." I say while sighing. Damn, I completely forgot about everyone. I wonder if they're back yet.

"Oh… Well…" She starts. There's some awkward silence that follows before she gets up from laying and sits with her knees to her face.

I get up and look at her in the eye, "What?" I ask. What's wrong with her?

Suddenly, she just starts staring into my eyes. What? What's wrong? I feel the side of my face where I normally feel my sunglasses and realize there's nothing there. Shit! "Uhm.. Nothing. Nevermind." She says while still staring. I just cover my eyes while she gets off the car and back into the shop.

"Thanks," I mumble as she walks away. I continue to lay on the car again. Kind of comforting when there's no C-Sec chasing you. She just nods and continues into the shop. I prop my leg onto the car and think of everyone, mainly Drago. Why's he all over me, anyway? Same with Ash, but in a different way. Ash is always there defending me while Drago just wants to be around me. I don't get it…

"Commander Peter Shepard of the SR-1 Normandy has been promoted to the rank of Spectre." I hear over a loudspeaker. Don't know what a Spectre is, but they won't be back at the ship for a while. Mine as well just relax here for a bit.

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**Well, that's it for this chapter. I realized that this entire time I've been spelling "Kaidan" as "Kaiden". I'm an idiot. Anyway, sorry for not hearing from me. The 8****th**** was my birthday (and I had off from school! Yay, faculty meetings!) soooooo I was just chilling and doing whatever. Didn't really think of anything. I did, however, get a Soft Kitty poster from Big Bang Theory, Mortal Kombat: Armageddon for PS2, and Wonder Woman and Batman lunch boxes. Those tin ones. I have a bunch of comic shit in my room, so I have them on display since they're vintage looking :3. **

**In case of Junie's face paint, please break glass: **

**DeviantArt of Junie's face paint will be up whenever I get the chance. It's 3:05 a.m. No time for doodling, time for sleeping :3**


	12. Chapter 12 - Geth, Asari, and Snow

Chapter 12

I'm running from… I don't even know what. There's just thick… what is this? It smells like shit and there's just mud everywhere. My biotics aren't working and neither are my abilities. I look down at my right arm to see my armband is missing… Shit! Where is it? No time to think, only to keep running.

I weave through branches and long green things…_ Vines_ I think. I hear hissing and growling but it doesn't stop me. There's something over here, I know it. The mud has progressively gotten higher, since it went from ankle deep to knee deep. I'm using my hands to propel me a bit farther. There's a light over there, I can sense it. I'm about waist deep in this smelly-ass mud now. I see unfamiliar animals run by me, heading in the opposite direction.

"Run!" and "Hurry!" are being shouted from the animals, but without them using their mouths. It's almost projected from their minds in to my mind, making every word they say echo around in my head.

The mud begins to lower again as I get closer to the light, making me feel a bit weak from the muscle strain. I start to see silhouettes. Small ones, but as I approach their figures begin to take shape. I see Drago, Ash, Shepard, Tali and Garrus all standing in a combat position facing the light with numerous blacked out silhouettes. Wrex is standing with a bunch of Krogan silhouettes, and all of them are facing the light. I look all the way over on the right and see numerous dead bodies, one standing out the most. Wait… That's Junie? No. No… I was just… Wait… What's happening?

Suddenly, as I'm dazed and standing there I see the light approaching me. No, it's not the same light. It's a red one, and it's headed straight towards me! I begin to sprint back to the muddy area but the light catches. I close my eyes as everything is silent, deafened. I don't feel anything. I just go limp until my hearing returns and I open my eyes. I see destruction. Destruction everywhere. I look a bit closer and see charred bodies everywhere. First one being Drago. Oh no… No… I just run up to him and my knees pound into the ground making blood draw.

"No… wake up!" I yell, "Wake up! C'mon! Wake up!" What's wrong? Why isn't he awake!? No, I'm not dead, why is he? I just start shaking him as my eyes moisten. Why do I want him awake anyway? Where is... Ash? Oh no… Ash! I get up to where her silhouette was and see her charred like Drago… No... Fuck no… Why? I just stand up like a zombie and start to walk towards where the light was… Fuck… No. None of this happened. No, it couldn't Just… Fuck no…

I see a brighter light, not red but a greenish light shining down from the sky. Like a moth to a light I walk towards it. There's a small black furry animal on the ground… I just continue my slow pace. I sit on the ground next to it and pick it up gently. That smell… It's that wolf from before! No, that wolf was bigger... why's the scent the same? So soft and completely black like my hair. I hold it carefully as it whimpers and cries. I feel tears rolling down my cheeks but I don't care. I'm about to look into its eyes when everything go black. What just happened?

"Wake up, c'mon!" I hear an Asari say from next to me, shaking me.

I shoot up and feel a cold sweat all over. I begin to frantically feel around, making sure I'm in one piece… What the fuck was that? I look over to see it's Junie and she's in one piece… alive… breathing… Thank fuck… I just slam my head back into the car as I lay there with my eyes closed. That… I don't even know how to describe it.

"What happened? What's wrong? You were moving around on the car all too frantically." I don't even know what happened, so I just shrug as calmly as I can even though I'm practically shaking in my own skin. "Seriously. What's wrong?"

"Nothing." I say reassuringly. It obviously didn't work.

"Whatever." She says. Damn, she's pissed. Kind of like when Ash was pissed that I almost died. Oh well, I just get up off the hood and start to walk back to the Normandy. Hopefully nothing big happened while I was gone.

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"Decontamination in Progress." Damn, that's annoying, not to mention the smell it emits. Smells horrible. The door slides open and I see 3 familiar faces waiting for me. 2 of which don't look too happy.

"I thought I said-" Shepard begins. I'm not in the mood for this.

"I know what you said." I say cutting him off. He looks furious with me. Too bad, "It's not like I blew something up."

"_Purple eyed woman spotted on top of the bridge of the 'Kate' and 'Faith' buildings. She wore-_" and then Ash shuts off the recording from her Omni-Tool. She, too, looks as pissed as Shepard does.

"Well, she didn't blow anything up." Says Drago with an amused look on his face. Bastard must have recorded it. Ash and Shepard glare at him and he puts up his hands surrender-like, just like when they were first introduced.

"I'll be-"

"You're not going anywhere, Kitana." Says Ash, grabbing my arm as I attempt to walk away. Well, fuck.

"Watch me." I say as I biotically push her away. Not super strong, but strong enough to make her stumble backwards. I hear her mumble something under her breath as I walk away. Shepard isn't dumb enough to come after me without armor, and Drago. I don't even know what he's going to do.

I make my way to the elevator to go into the crew quarters and go into Ash's room. Not the smartest place to 'hide' but it will do. I jump onto her _bed_… if I remember correctly. I lay like I normally do, discarding all the pillows. Weird how Ash and Kaidan are the only two with their own personal room. Doesn't matter now. I just lay here until I hear the door slide open. It's Ash.

"You can't keep doing this." I hear her say. I just don't care right now, not after that dream I had, "Will you just take this seriously? Do you want to leave the crew?" Again, no response so she just sits on the bed with me, "You're a really difficult person to talk to." She says with a sigh.

I scoot over, making a gap between us. I prefer not to get close to anyone, and touching is out of the question, "Just stop talking." I say. Hopefully that works.

"You know, I grew up in a family of girls. Don't think I can't handle you." She says with a laugh. I don't exactly know what that means, but whatever, "You remind me a lot of Abby, the one who I was talking with when you first came aboard. Not exactly normal, in fact, far from it. You dress the same, disregarding the dresses for pants. I know you're not my sister, but I can't just be here and not think of you as one." She says while getting more comfortable, leaning back using her hands as support, "You're going to have to start listening to people. You think nobody cares about you, but you're wrong. Everyone here does. You don't have to push people away all the time."

"It stops things from happening." I reply, thinking back to the dream I had… That stupid fucking dream. This is why I don't get close to people, it always hurts in the end. I flip over to face the opposite direction of Ash. I barely realized I'm on the very edge of the bed.

"Like what?" She asks. I just shrug and she sighs, "I don't want to see you leave, neither does anyone else. Well, how far you're pushing Shepard, I think he might be in favor." She laughs as she says that. I want to leave. No. That's a lie. I actually like it here I guess…

"Just fuck off." I say as I curl up on the side of the bed.

"What's your problem? Seriously, all you ever do is push people away. No matter what we do, you could give two shits. You just disregard any order and don't care about the consequences. What if you die? Huh? What happens then? Do you care how it will impact the people around you?" She's pissed. Super fucking pissed.

I think back to the dream, how horrible I felt after I saw everyone… Everyone dead… No… no. Nobody would care if I died… No… That's a lie. Fuck, this is confusing. "Just fuck the hell off." I say. Just shut the fuck up…

"No. You don't even have a response! You can't keep doing this! I'm serious, everyone is serious! You think you know what you-" For fuck sake!

"Just _shut-the-fuck-up_." I say. I feel my eyes moisten again. Fuck, no. This isn't like before. Nobody died… I'm just… I don't know.

"Why? So you can push me away too? Again? I'm not letting it happen. You're always first to act, last to think. Remember when you got shot? Remember that? Yeah, what if you didn't get him in front of you in time. You were wearing a tee-shirt, it would have ripped you in ha-" Fuck, woman!

I spring up from the side of the bed and flip her so she's on her back and I have my right leg on her stomach holding her down and my arm up to her neck, making my face look away from hers. "Just fucking shut up." I feel her hands on my arm, keeping some of the pressure off her neck. I feel the tears running down my cheeks dripping off my face. Fuck.

"It's okay to cry, you know." She says comfortingly, unlike before when she was screaming. Fuck I feel horrible. I just collapse on her and she pulls me into a hug whispering "It's okay," over and over again in my ear. I just cry for… I don't even know how long. All I know is it felt pretty damn good.

################################

Shepard pulled us all into another meeting and everyone sits exactly where they sat before. When Wrex finally sits down, Shepard gets up to tell us the news, which hopefully doesn't include me.

Shepard stands up to resume his leader role, and everyone quiets down from whatever chat they were having. "We've been assigned 3 missions from Captain Anderson and Ambassador Udina. We have to recruit Matriarch Benezia's daughter, Dr. Liara T'Soni, from a planet in the Artemis Tau cluster, check out Geth attacks at Feros, and look into possible sightings of Matriarch Benezia at Noveria. Any questions?" Well, that's a shit-ton of things to do. He says them so casually, too. Damn.

I speak up, "What's this T'Soni doing in the Artemis Tau cluster?" Everyone stares in disbelief that I'm speaking, but I don't take my eyes off of Shepard.

He clears his throat before speaking, "She's a Prothean researcher. She was exploring an archeological dig on one of the uncharted worlds in the Artemis Tau cluster." I nod my head, "Anything else?"

"Where are we going first, Commander?" Kaidan asks. Nobody cares when he talk though. Of course.

"We're hitting Feros first, then grabbing T'Soni, then we're heading up to Noveria. If Matriarch Benezia is actually on Noveria, having her daughter there to sway her opinions will help." Okay, Geth attacks, Liara, then her mother. Gee, that sounds fun. "Any further questions?" When a short bit of silence follows he nods his head, "Alright then, dismissed." And with that, everyone leaves the room.

I head out the door and down to the mess hall like I normally do. I need armor before we hit Feros, and I don't know how much longer that will take. I grab a drink and sit down with my legs crossed. Huh. Never noticed these chairs swiveled before. I start to spin around using my biotics to propel it. This is actually kind of-

"Uh, _Krasavitza_, What're you doing?" I hear from behind me, making me stop spinning in my tracks. Well, this is embarrassing. I spin around to face the table and pull down my mask a bit to take a big gulp of water before pulling the mask back up.

"Nothing." I say with a smile, though my mask covers that up nicely. I guess I have to thank Junie for this.

"Someone's in a good mood." He says going into a mini-fridge and pulling out one of those enhanced vodka bottles he stole from Chora's Den. He doesn't even bother with shot glasses, he just grabs the whole bottle and sits across from me.

"Yeah, well, don't fuckin' ruin it." I say jokingly, making him smile a bit. I start to swivel left and right in my chair.

"Well… Does giving you a gift ruin it for you?" He says while raising an eyebrow. What's a gift?

"A what?" I ask.

"A gift. It's something… It's something someone gives to someone for free. Normally for a reason." He says. He's not very good at explaining, is he?

"I guess… not?" I don't exactly know what it is, so I assume this is a normal reaction… no?

He pulls something out of his pocket, all I see is a shiny metal chain. He opens his hand, letting something green fall out attached to the chain. Wait, it's one of the necklaces that he has. I look a bit closer and see it's a wolf on top of a green orb with purple eyes, like mine. The wolf has his head raised in the air and his right leg lifted up, folded under its stomach. A bit of a closer look at the ball I notice some details on it. I don't know what they mean though.

"Remember, back in the taxi?" He asks while getting up from the seat with the necklace still in hand.

I think back and remembering looking at his necklace, and wanting one similar. "What, when I saw your necklace?" I ask. He escorts me up and puts the necklace on me. It's not very long. In fact, it barely droops down. I start looking at it and turning it in my hand. The orb is glossy like his, but my wolf is a bit of a darker black then his dragon.

"Mhmm," he says while nodding, "So, what do you think?"

"Awesome," I say while turning around to look at him. I just realized that his sunglasses are off, and his orb matches the color of his eyes. We stare at each other's eyes for a moment until I ask, "What's the reason?"

He looks dumbfounded that I just asked him, "Well, I did… I uh…" Wow, I never made him stutter like that. I could get used to this, "You, well… you m-"

"C'mon, Junie just called, she has your armor already. Didn't think it would be so quick considering she said it'd take until tomorrow." I hear Ash call from behind us, all armored up ascending in the elevator.

"Well, would ya' look at that, time to go." Drago says with a smirk as he darts to the elevator.

"You're going to tell me later, then." I say from behind him as I casually walk to the elevator. Ash just smirks as we enter the elevator.

################################

"Well, you're just wearing Colossus armor with a modified helmet. Yours was easy to get, Kitana's, on the other hand, I had to make from scratch." She says, glaring towards me playfully. I just roll my eyes.

"Well, _spasibo_ Junie." Drago says as she hands him his armor case. It's the usual grey from the metal casing.

She pulls out a completely black case with dark purple rimming. The case is glossy and looks like it weighs a hell of a lot less than Drago's. "This one's yours, Kitana." She says while sliding it on the counter. Wow, making friends with your armorist really pays off. I nod my head and grab it. "Changing rooms are through the door on the left. I'm pretty sure you both can read symbols to tell which is which." I'm pretty sure I can too… I hope.

We both go into the door, and luckily the doors have the words written beneath them. I obviously walk through the one that says 'Women' and start changing into my armor. I get into the dark black skin-tight part first. There's an opening on the palm and from the middle of each finger up, there's nothing. I start to slide on all the armor pieces, and they all fit like a glove. I look at my wrist where normally my Omni-Tool is and notice that instead of a holographic display, it's all on the gauntlet. Nice. I see a note written once I start it up.

_Ah, so you figured out how to start up your Omni-Tool display. It'll work normally and this can be switched between hologram and screen display modes. Your H.U.D can be customized and linked to different suits, so you can track their vital signs and such. Yes, your helmet has augmented reality and things from your Omni-Tool will be displayed in your helmet. Everything is switchable, blah, blah, blah. Instructions should be under the options of all the new applications. If you ever have any questions, my shop and personal numbers are already programmed into the contacts list._

_P.S. Be safe out there_

_-Junie_

Nice. I have all the armor pieces on, and in fact, it's a lot more comfortable than I thought. Everyone always hates being in their armor, but I could live like this. I put on my helmet and boot it up after I connect it to my suit. It barely gets rid of any peripheral vision. I look at my Omni-Tool and start to skim through the instructions on the suit linking. I send out a link request to Ash, since Drago's suit hasn't registered yet. Must still be getting into his suit. Suddenly, my arm vibrates and I start to open up my 'Heads Up Display' and move around the signs. I see Ash's Medi-Gel meter in the shape of a '+' and Shields meter in the shape of a shield. Instead of vital signs, I'd prefer Medi-Gel meter. I can see what I'm playing with in my spare time.

I walk out of the room to see only Ash and Junie talking to each other in the room. I stroll over to the both of them as they gawp at me. Is my suit really that cool?

"Damn, girl, your suit looks sharp." I hear Junie say, and Ash nods in agreement.

I look at my Omni-Tool and set it up so everything is visible in my helmet, instead of my Omni-Tool. Nice. My arm vibrates again as I see Drago's suit pop up. Notifications appear at the top of my helmet for a moment before fading away. I use my aug-reality and have it track my eyes to navigate through it. Fun. I send another request and his Medi-Gel and Shield meters pop up under Ash's. This is actually pretty damn fun. I hear some heavy footsteps behind me.

"Heavier than I thought, but I like it." Drago says. His voice is all robotic from his helmet, and on the left side of his helmet is "052" in the dark red like the rest of his suit. Hm. I'm going to have to ask about that. He starts bouncing up and down swinging his arms, getting used to the feeling I assume.

"Alright then, have fun. And don't forget to come back for repairs and recommend me to… everyone that needs armor." She says with a laugh.

I nod and head for the door. Time to see how light this really is. I charge forward, again, using biotics to help me pick up the pace. Damn, it's like wearing my casual clothes. I can get used to this. I retract the fingers and palms and check is everything is fine, which they are. Damn, she did a good job. I stop and wait for Ash and Drago to catch up, since they're in Heavy armor it takes them longer. And they're walking.

Time to go to Feros and kick some Geth ass!

################################

**Yay! Armor! I forgot to mention last chapter about the paper thing, I didn't even know that paper still existed until I saw books everywhere. I just thought data pads out ruled everything. I was wrong. Anyway, time to head to Feros. My most hated mission because it takes forever to do. Luckily, it'll be a lot more fun to write about rather than do… I think. I dunno. Well, time to go start up Mass Effect to know what I'm actually writing about.**

_**-Rogue**_


	13. Chapter 13 - Feros Pt 1

Chapter 13

We're heading to the Attican Beta Cluster, and I've just been laying in Ash's bed. I adapted it as mine, since I don't think sleeping in the Crew Quarters would benefit me. As in – They constantly stare at me. Annoying. Very annoying. I've yet to take off this armor, I love it so much. I'm moving around my H.U.D and sorting some folders while getting to know how everything works. Not as boring as it sounds, considering I'm controlling it with my eyes. Suddenly, I hear metal slide and see a familiar face standing outside of the door, leaning on the side.

"You can take the armor off, you know." Ash says while smiling.

"I don't feel like it," I say, "Besides, I'm figuring out how to use it." I start fiddling with the sound to test some things out. I figured out how to turn off the display in my helmet, so I see complete blackness. That brings back horrible memories, so I normally stray from the button.

"You can't live like a Quarian, you know."

"I'm not stupid, I need to take showers, blah, blah, blah fuckin' blah" I reply while making stupid expressions. My tinted visor covers that up nicely. I'm also wearing my mask still, it's actually quite comfortable.

She begins to approach me, making me shift around agitatedly. I still don't like getting too close to people. "Uh-huh. You also can't run up to shotguns. Those flashlight heads won't show mercy like humans. They have no problem shooting their own."

I sigh, "I get the feeling you don't either." I manage to get a dry laugh out of her. Hm, what's wrong with her?

"_We're in Theseus' System. Fero's ETA is 10 minutes._" Says Joker over the loudspeaker.

"Go and get your armor on." I say while getting up from the bed, "And who's coming?"

"It's going to be me, you, Drago, Wrex, and Shepard."

"I'm good with that," I say while stretching, loosening my muscles a bit.

Ash pats me on the back, "And I'm serious, don't go all macho-woman while we're out there. Promise?"

I nod my head, "Promise."

* * *

We're all waiting on Wrex and Ash to come up from the Garage. Boring as hell too. I'm sitting on the pipes like usual, allowing the humming relax me. I hear heavy footsteps to my left. Heavy _Krogan_ footsteps.

"Hope we're not late for the party," I hear a deep, gruff voice say. Oh yeah, that's defiantly Wrex. If Ash starts sounding like that, I'm going to start to worry.

As we head out the door, to the left the first person we see is a man in brown. He speaks as we approach, "We saw your ship. Fai Dan wants to speak with you immediately."

"I assume he's your leader?" Shepard asks while raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, he needs your help. The Geth are making another push. He's right – Look out!"

Suddenly, a huge ball of red comes flying towards us, making as all jump for cover. I see three Geth just begging to be murdered.

I get against the right wall and start to bounce on the balls of my feet when I feel someone grab my shoulder and pull me to the ground.

"Are you insane?" I hear Drago ask from behind me.

"There's three tin-heads, who gives a fuck?" I reply calmly, the complete opposite of him right now.

"Look at your right flank," He says while pointing his thumb over his shoulder. I take a sneak peak and see four Geth and a sniper. Well, that explains a lot.

During our little talk, Shepard and Ash managed to take down the three in front of us, while Wrex waits eagerly to charge into the other five. I'm going with him, having a Krogan next to you with a shotgun always improves your chances. We all move positions, except Shepard who stays back with a sniper around the corner. I pump my shotgun, Wrex does a deep, threatening laugh, and Drago nods his head. I forgot about him using shotguns now, and Ash's old one is now my current one. Now to try out this incendiary upgrade.

Wrex is the first one to charge, letting out a Krogan war cry (I assume that's what it was) and me following behind. I watch the Krogan brutally head-butt the only white Geth, tossing him into a wall with a shotgun-to-the-light following it. I open my finger and palm sections and put my shotgun in my right hand. Time to see if I can overload these fuckers. I run up to the one up front, a bit behind the sniper, and tackle it to the ground. The fucker literally throws me off, but I do a backwards roll and land on my feet again.

"Wow, for walking lights, these S.O.B's are strong!" I yell as I to another charge, this time with a fist-o-electricity. I open my palm and jam it into the light of the Geth causing some popping, then a bit more, then suddenly it starts shaking. Not enough? I put a bit more juice into it when I realize something. Oh… oh fuck! I dive away and move under some debris.

Suddenly, the ground shakes a bit as I turn off external sounds. There's a bit of ringing, but after that I open my eyes and turn back on the noise, peeking my head over the cover. I see… some Geth scraps and the final moments of the sniper's sad synthetic life from a sniper bullet to the chest. Drago socks one in the face, with a cracking noise, then finishes him off with a shotgun in the face.

"Hmph, two in one. You're not half as bad as I thought. For a human." I hear Wrex say from behind me. Two in one? Oh, the explosion must have killed two. Cool!

"Then you must be a bad Krogan, letting a human get more kills then you." I say laughing a bit.

The Krogan nudges me. A bit too hard if you ask me. "Then you must be a suicidal human, calling a Krogan weak." He says. I just roll my eyes as Shepard grunts and takes the lead.

We walk down the hallway and take another left. I hear something jump by as we walk into a stair-well, but I let it slide. Must be nothing. I look up again, just to be safe, and I see something on the wall. The hell…?

"Get in cover!" I hear Shepard say, rushing to the side of the staircase.

I start to see the white thing from earlier jump around on the walls. What the fuck is that thing? I put up my shotgun and start to fire wherever I see it. Eventually it just falls and lays on the ground with a satisfying thud.

"Well that was-" Mid-sentence, I see a blue… blue something fly past me, nicking my armor's shoulder. What the fuck now? I see another one of those white fuckers jump all around. This time I see Shepard take it out with a sniper bullet to the flashlight face. Nice shot, I thought he only did body-shots.

"I hope there's not any more of those things…" I hear Drago say from behind me. I turn around to see him surveying the whole room.

"Why? Scared?" I ask teasingly.

"Oh, Ha-ha. No, but really, how do they do that?" He asks, "Like, cling to the walls and stuff."

I see Wrex walk over to the spider-like Geth and look at it closely, narrowing his eyes and picking it up by the arm. Suddenly, he pulls out a knife from his ankle area and chops off its hand, tossing it to Drago as he slides his knife back in.

Drago grunts, "_Valovoj_, Wrex! _Chto za chert_?"

Wrex gives off an evil smile and starts to walk up the steps with Shepard and Ash, who are both smirking.

We walk through the short hall and on our left is the first real room we've seen. And it has inhabitants, who are luckily not synthetic nor hostile. Instead, the human colony Shepard was probably talking about. We navigate through the area filled with busy colonists and debris, looking for this Fai Dan fellow. I think that was his name, at least. As we approach a man and a woman, I notice my radar in my H.U.D is fucking up. What the hell? I start messing with it using my Omni-Tool wrist display instead of the hologram mode.

I zone out of their conversation, up until the woman screams, "Watch out!" while taking out an AR.

"Geth are in the tower! Protect the heart of the colony!" says the man. Alright! More killing! I'd much prefer organics, but I must admit – Synthetics are less of a mess.

"What's with all the white ones?" I ask while getting behind a crate.

"Those are called Shock Troopers," replies Shepard. There's a bit of a pause as I see the Shock Trooper stumble a bit after a sniper bullet impacts his shields, "They're the stronger sons-of-bitches."

I pull out my pistol and head up to the door frame and use the walls as cover. I peek out fast and see a pitch-black one and another, and go back into cover. The last time, the black was the sniper. Since snipers are usually weaker, I'll take him out first. I pop back out of cover and land three shots on the sniper, two being headshots. Nice. Suddenly, another comes from the staircase with a friend, another Shock Trooper.

I shoot the shock trooper twice before Drago goes ahead and peppers him with shots, causing him to fall. I glare over at him. I wish I could see the expression on his face, but that damn helmet covers it. I turn around to see the normal Geth from earlier drop from some AR bullets and Wrex slam the sniper into the ground then spray him with shotguns. Nice one.

We advance to another set of stairs. I put back my pistol in my holster and pull my shotgun off my lower back. Shepard gets behind the wall at the bottom with Drago with a pistol and Ash with her AR. Wrex and I head up the stairwell.

"Please, help me! I don't want to die!" I hear from behind me, making me quickly look over to the source. I see a man get behind a fallen pillar, to be short lived by an explosion. Damn grenades. I look down at my waist and see three there, four on my chest, and three more on my right arm, since my left has my symbol on it. I take a waist grenade in my hand and keep it there.

The second we get up the steps, I feel a hard object slam into my face, causing me to fall back and hit the Krogan behind me. I use him as support and spring up with a horrible headache. Fuck, what was that? I see a Shock Trooper waltz out of the doorway and Wrex head-butt it, causing whatever they have for a face to shatter into a million pieces. I throw the grenade into the room and pray there's something there and I'm not wasting a grenade. Sure enough, I hear Geth noises, presumable warning the others, and I detonate it, jumping half-way down the stairwell while sealing my eyes shut as Wrex just shields his eyes. Lucky Krogan bastard. Once the floor stops shaking and my ears stop ringing, I see everyone make an advance up the steps. I look down at my armor to see it's already developing some light scratches. Cool… I guess…

Shepard just has his pistol out checking the room. "All clear." He says as he turns around holstering his weapon.

"Well, gee," I say with a sarcastic tone, "I think even Garrus could have told you that, and he's not even here!"

He just playfully glares at me as Ash pushes my back a bit forward, "You never know." She says as she continues walking.

"Whatever," I reply while looking down at my shotgun, "And I still haven't gotten to use this damn ammo. Other than on that one Turian of course. He was easy though." I holster my shotgun on my lower back, "I want a real enemy."

"I think we should check the nearby rooms, Commander." Ash says, while blatantly avoiding my statement.

"I like the way you think, Chief." He replies, causing as to look embarrassed. Why do people get embarrassed so easily? I don't understand. Glad that's never happened to me yet… right?

* * *

"Uh-uh. You're joking, right?" I say while just gawping at the giant rover-looking thing. "I don't even know what the fuck it is!"

"It's a Mako. Now get in." Drago says while pushing me. I plant my feet firmly in the ground. Not another ride again.

"No. I don't know if you've realized or not, but the last few times I was in any vehicle were disastrous. I'm not getting in. I don't care if-"

"Let's go." Ash says while lifting me into the air by grabbing me around the waist, "Unless of course you want to stay here with Drago."

Ash practically throws me at the Mako, "Still not happening." Nope. I'm not getting in. I don't care what they offer. I plant my feet into the ground and cross my arms.

"If you get in I'll get the Chief to upgrade your shotgun." Shepard says while climbing into the driver's side of the Mako.

"That's a fine-an'-dandy offer you have there. But I dunno..." I say. Man, if they could see my face, they would have pushed me in the Mako already.

"If you don't get in," Drago says while putting his hand on his helmet in a frustrated fashion, "I'll bug the hell out of you for the rest of your life."

"See, now that's a good deal." I say. If I say any more, I'll burst into laughter.

As I climb into the Mako, I notice there's a top for gunning. Seems fun, but not my kind of thing. I'll keep away from that. Oh, and there's a giant pissed off Krogan I have to sit across from. Great. I slide in and sit as comfortably against the metal walls as I can. Not the best, but good enough. Drago slides in next to me while Ash goes next to Wrex.

"You don't get nauseous easily, right?" Shepard asks while turning around to look at us.

"Huh?" I ask while turning around a bit to look dead at him, "What do you mean?"

"You'll see." I hear Wrex say. After that he does one of his deep laughing-like grunts. Krogan? Laughing? Fuck, this can't be good.

I hear the shifting of gears and my body shifts backwards a bit, pushing my back against the wall, as Shepard backs up the Mako. Another shift of gears and he's headed forward slowly.

"You know what you're doing, right?" I ask. There's no response, "Right?"

He pauses at the door and once it starts to slide open, he goes full speed ahead, knocking me off balance a bit. I just barely realize I'm going face-first into the ground before Drago grabs me and yanks me back up.

"Watch it there, _Krasavitza_," he says like a silver-tongued snake, "Don't want you gettin' hurt before the battle." He pulled me into a hug-like position before I pushed him away with both my hands on his chest. I still hate touching people, what doesn't he understand?

I brush him off as I look out the binocular-like things on the Mako, so I can get a glimpse outside. I see a shit-ton of Geth giant-like things, and some normal Geth. Shepard starts swerving left and right, knocking everyone except Wrex off-balance.

"Ash, man the turret!" I hear Shepard yell above all the bullets colliding on the Mako walls and rockets exploding next to and behind it.

"Aye, aye, sir!" She says while springing up to the turret, expertly navigating it around as Drago and I hold on to anything to stay stationary. I continue to look through the binoculars when I see something… What the fuck Shepard!? There's blockage right in front of us!

"Shepard! Look with your eyes, man!" I yell to him as we continue to approach the line of blockage. "You fuckta-"

Suddenly, gravity pushes me against the ground as the Mako levitates in the air... for a brief moment... I feel weightless before gravity rushes back for a short fall and gravity's way of saying 'fuck you' when we slam into the ground full-force, rattling my head a bit.

We continue to head up the pretty much straight path when the second I look up a bit, I see wreckage. High wreckage. He'll just leap it, right? Wrong. Shepard slams into it as the Mako jumps into the air, causing all that I thought was gravity to disappear as we do a roll, almost like a barrel rolling, in midair. As we become straight, well, what I think is straight at least, he uses those thruster things at the bottom to cushion the fall. It didn't help much, but whatever. I'm feeling queasy already. Oh, fuck, this is a horrible feeling. I'm NOT used to this in the slightest. My stomach feels like it's going to explode. I notice Wrex staring.

"You humans are weak. The Krogan wouldn't upchuck from a little car ride."

I flip him off, "Fuck off, Wrex." He does his little laughing thing. More like a three-worded-laugh, but extremely deep and threatening. "Just when I thought we were becoming friends too." He smirks at that. Better than a Krogan hating me.

I don't even bother looking through the scope anymore. I just grab onto the wall handle and hold my stomach. The fact that we're on a sideward hill-like curve makes things a whole-lot shittier. Then, again, gravity pushes down on me, the brief amount of zero-grav, then slamming back into the ground. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuuuuuck! When will this be over? There's some more swerving and Ash comes down from the turret position.

"Anyone miss me?" She asks with a smile.

"Loads." I say, still clutching my stomach, and closing my eyes real hard. They can't see my facial expressions. Thank fuck, too.

Metal slides open as the Mako comes to a stop, "Ride's over guys n' gals. Now please, exit the vehicle and expose of any bodily functions away from the area."

Yes! Finally! I basically jump out of the Mako and lean on the nearest wall. Oh, yeah, forgot about my stomach problem.

"Something wrong?" Ash asks from behind me, putting her hand on my left shoulder. My right arm is on the wall while the other clutches my stomach, "Stomach upset?"

I just shake away her hand, "I'm fine." I say. I attempt to straighten out my stance to regain some composure, but that turns to shit when I rip off my helmet, tossing it to the ground to get some fresh air. Well, fresher air I guess. This air is horrible and smells like ass.

"If you're going to up-chuck, do it here," Shepard says while checking his weapon, "don't want anything to happen half-way through the mission."

"I said I'm fine."

"And I'm Commander Peter Shepard. What's your point?" He says while holstering his pistol. I just give him a quizzical look. "Old joke, just forget it." That manages to get a gruntish laugh from everyone.

I pick back up my helmet while dusting it off with my hand, "I'm fine. Let's do this."

I seriously hope I'm fine. If not, then this could be disastrous.

* * *

**Yes, I'm alive. I've been posting updates on my profile, blah, blah, blah. In case you're wondering about the Water/Varren/OtherProblemThatICan'tList Problems, that'll be gotten to in a bit. A bit off-from-story, but it's fine. Not going to blow up the story like saying "Lololol The Reapers aren't even part of the story."**

**P.S. I'm attempted to fit Wrex into his character a bit more. Any suggestions?**

_**-Rogue**_


	14. Chapter 14 - Feros Pt 2

Chapter 14

This place smells – and looks – like shit. Enhanced senses seem nice, up until you're put into a situation like this. Luckily, while Shepard and everyone else talk to some man and woman, presumably the leaders, I walked over to some refugee just looking into the lake-ish area below. Not much of a sight since it looks like everything else here: grey, moldy, and covered in rubble. He's close to one of the scattered boxes just laying around. I just lean on the box and stare into the lake.

"Hey." He says, not peeling his eyes off the lake. What a glorious attitude.

"I'm not here to be your friend. I'm here to save your ass." I mutter while looking at him.

He looks up to me bashfully, "Sorry if I came off rude, my name's Clark." He says while dusting off his elbows, since he was using them to lean over the railing.

"Not your fault," I reply nodding reassuringly, "You'll be fine. We'll save you."

"What makes you so sure," he adds quickly while messing with his fingers, "What if – what if we all die here today… what if-"

I walk up and put my hands on his to stop him from ripping his own hand off, "I know what it's like to be in a hopeless situation."

Weakly nodding, he picks up a bottle of water off the floor. Not one of those small ones either, one of those big ones that could be used for a day or two if rationed properly. "Here. Take it. You need it more than us."

I want to reject it, but instead I hesitantly accept the gesture and pick up a piece of abandoned rope off the ground. I begin to tie it around the bottle a few times, "You didn't have to. We're fine."

"It's hot here and you're all in armor. Just share it, for me?"

I fasten the bottle and rope to my pistol holder around my waist, "Will do."

When he turns back to the lake, I hear heavy footsteps from behind me. It's either Ash or Drago, since it's too light for Wrex.

"I'm beginning to think you're cheating on me." Drago. Defiantly Drago. What's he mean by 'cheating' anyway?

"Huh?" I mutter while turning to face him, "We were just talking, he gave us some water. Are we ready to move out?"

"I got you a necklace, anyone can get you water." He says, completely avoiding my question.

"Anyone can get me either," I say agitatedly. I want to shoot things, not talk anymore, "So, are we ready to move out?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. We're looking for – see that girl over there?" he says while pointing to the woman he was talking to with everyone else. I nod. "Well, her daughter is missing. We're looking for her."

"Boy-oh-boy! That sounds fun!" I say, sarcasm practically dripping form my tongue.

He just rolls his eyes while spinning his helmet on his finger. I just watch it spin around and around smoothly on the tip of his finger.

"How can you do that?" I ask, wondering more-so about how he's able to breathe in this filthy air.

"Well, you spin it. On your finger… and it spins?" He says, more quizzically then explanatory. I'll just take that as an answer, since saying 'How can you breathe in air this fucking horrible?' in front of its inhabitants isn't very wise.

I catch another glimpse of the '052' on his helmet again, "So about that number. What does-"

"It's nothing." He says a bit angrily.

"Alright then…" I simply reply.

There's a bit of awkward silence before everyone starts calling our names, which we answer by walking over to the group. I don't exactly know what his problem is, but dammit man, don't just throw on a number and expect questions _not_ to be asked.

#######################################

"Oh, you're fucking joking, right?" I ask. Really? The fucking Mako… AGAIN?

"What's wrong, afraid of something?" I hear a deep voice say from behind me. I'm soon 'bumped' into by the same Krogan who climbs into the Mako without a problem. I hate Wrex sometimes.

"Fuck you, Wrex." I say when I feel someone put a hand on my shoulder. I swing around to see Shepard standing there with a smile on his face. "Oh, and fuck you, too."

"What'd I do?" He asks. No, something is wrong. He's normally not like this. Is this some kind of distraction or-

I feel two people tackle me on the ground. Dammit! "What the fuck? Get the off!" I yell while squirming on the ground. I don't want to hurt anyone… yet.

One picks me up and holds my arms in a lock, a painful one at that. If I set my heels on the ground it feels like I'll dislocate my shoulders, but on the balls of my feet it hurts a bit less. Drago walks in front of me with a grin on his face. Fucking…

"Ash, let go." I say while sighing.

"I'm just escorting you to the Mako," she replies while laughing, "Now, please, this way."

"I kind of enjoyed that." Drago says while standing at the doorway. Shepard and Wrex are waiting for us.

"I'm going to murder you all." I say under my breath, barely audible.

"Uh-huh." Ash says while practically pushing me into the Mako, "I'd like to see you kill a Krogan."

I sit in where I was before and stare right into Wrex's reptilian eyes, while circling his crest with my finger in the air, "I can pop one of those suckers off with a blade."

Wrex grunts, "I don't see a blade on you."

I bend my left wrist forward all the way and two blades pop out the top, "Wanna bet?"

Wrex just folds his arms and sits back into his seat while smirking, "You've got quite the quad to be challenging a Krogan."

The Mako starts up, while Wrex and I continue our conversation. Maybe conversing will elude my thoughts from flipping in circles in mid-air, "I've killed a few of you before. It was me against two of you. I killed them both, not to mention I was blind."

Wrex grunts, "Is that right?"

"Matter of fact, it went a little like this…"

########################################

The only things I hear are my chains, my breathing, and silence. Beautiful, uncorrupted silence. Silence keeps me company when it gets too cold, and is my worst enemy when it's time to listen. Listening, one of my greatest assets. Between that and smelling, why bother doing anything else? I listen, not to the silence, but to something else. Footsteps. Big, heavy footsteps. Approaching me. My Galaxy. My motherfucking Galaxy.

"Heh. I don't see why there's 6 million creds on this human." I hear one of the footsteps say. It's muffled, just like all noises are until you hear metal slide.

"Who cares? We get more money." The other set says. Two of them, that's all I hear. Good.

There's a beep and my chains unhinge, along with my neck brace. I walk around as far away as possible before I charge my hand, right hand, into a flame knife. That's what The Voice calls it, that's what I call it. My left hand charges for a dash.

The sliding doors. The footsteps. I hear them.

"There! Shoot now bef-"

Too late. I do an electric dash and head butt the, what smells like, Krogan. The head butt hurts a bit more than expected, but none-the-less and grab onto its gun and send a huge shock surging through it, then through the defenseless Krogan. My right hand still full of 'fire', whatever that is, it gives away my position quickly to his friend.

"You little ass-wipe!" He yells while spraying some bullets into my barriers from his Assault Rifle.

The cheap ones, they don't even penetrate my barriers. I do another dash to his friend while the other is still on the ground, and place the 'knife' where The Voice taught me to. Right between the crest and skin on the right-most corrner. I jam it in and pull.

"Fuck!" His buddy yells as I peel off his crest. The one I'm at now starts screaming and just drops to the ground, dropping his weapon.

I pick it up and aim it to the footsteps closing in on me. More bullets pepper my barriers and break through some areas, leaving small blood trails drip down wherever. I pull the trigger and wait for the recoil to stop, as in when it overheats. The second it stops, I throw the gun straight at the Krogan.

Great. Distraction over, I dash about three times in a zig-zag pattern before closing in with a final dash, delivering a punch to the left side of his face with my left hand, literally causing my hand to shatter. Fuck! Can't concentrate to use my abilities other than biotics! Fuck! Fuck! FUCK!

"Heh, heh, heh…" It says with a deep growl. It smashes its fist into my gut, causing some liquids, presumably blood, to gush out of my mouth. Just to feel another fist land right in the middle of my face, causing me to fall right on my ass. My eyes tear up from getting punched in the nose. By a Krogan.

"FUCK!" I yell as loud as I can before unleashing my biotics. I use them to lift him up and pound him into the ground face-first. 56 times. I don't know if he's mush or not, but all I know is that it wreaks of Krogan blood. Adrenaline: One of my best friends.

"WELL DONE, SUBJECT 0.5." I hear. It's done…? Thank fuck…

#################################

"Hmph. I'm surprised you didn't die from the punch." Wrex says while giving the fight some thought.

"Hmph. I'm surprised you're still questioning me." I reply, crossing my arms.

"Wait," Drago says interjecting himself into the conversation, "Where were you, _Krasavitza_?"

I look down. Ashamed, really. I let myself be tormented and… wait. I had a fire blade. A fucking fire blade! How? How did I do it? I open up my suit's hand thing-a-mah-bobs and attempt to concentrate. Blade. Fire knife… how?

"What're you doin'?" Ash asks. I'm just sitting there holding my hand concentrating.

I turn off external sounds to concentrate more. Blade.. Flame.. Fire.. I look at my hand to see it has a basic shape. I run my left hand through the flame to see it's just flames, not something solid. How did I make it solid? I think harder. C'mon! Something! Anything!

My thoughts come to an abrupt stop, as does the Mako. My head slams into the back of the wall as the flame disperses. Well, fuck. I turn back on external sounds to hear Shepard shout some orders. We all jump out, naturally, as Wrex, Drago, and I charge into battle. I notice Shepard isn't here.

"Fall back! Didn't you listen?" The three of us stand by the two pillar-like walls as I see the Mako pull up and start to shoot everything in sight down. Wow. Didn't expect that.

"I listen. I just happened to not listen at the moment," I reply sarcastically, "Besides, all three of us charged in." I gesture around to Wrex and Drago for emphasis.

Ash just rolls her eyes. We walk into a room. Like the rest: Grey, Moldy, and covered Rubble. Oh, how bleak it is.

There's some doorways around, none of which are accessible. I notice there's a hole in the ground, with the knee-high wall broken away. It looks like someone used it as a tunnel. I approach it and start down, trying to see where it leads. Shepard and his group take notice to my discovery, and approach it also.

"One-way drop, Commander." Ash says while inspecting it.

"Look like it leads to-" I feel someone push my back and suddenly I'm weightless, "What the fuck?!" I close my eyes as I plummet. I try to get into a roll, but instead manage to crush my left hand under my own weight, making a horrible popping noise. Feeling lucky it was a pop, not a crack, I shake it off but I know for a fact I won't be able to use this hand's blade anymore.

I lay on the ground when I hear someone else jump down and offers a hand. Black and red hand, that is. Drago. Of course. "_Prijatnogo osen'ju_?" he asks while helping me up.

"I have no fucking idea what the meant," I reply angrily. Fuck, my wrist hurt, "but if you pushed me I fucking swear-"

Another pair of feet land next to me, charcoal grey ones. Shepard. "You'll what? Kill him? I can't let you do that," he says sarcastically, "he's too much of a motivation for you." He offers a hand too, which I humbly accept just to piss Drago off.

"What?" he replies playfully, "Not because of my charming looks and attitude?"

Someone else jumps down, Ash. I can tell by the white and pink flying past my face. "I wouldn't call that charming." She replies with a grin.

"Wrex has a more loveable attitude then you." I reply as Wrex jumps down.

"That bad, eh?" Wrex replies with a grin.

"Maybe he shou-" Shepard begins, but is cut off by Drago lifting his hands into a surrender-like position.

"Alright, Alright, I give."

And with that, we walk down the short debris-filled hallway and into the next room. I take point since it's pretty obvious where we're going.

I see something red and dead laying on the ground, "…The fuck?" I mumble as I lift my head a bit. Suddenly, I hear a pistol fire and something nick my left arm, causing a searing pain into my wrist. Well, fuck! I grab my pistol with my right hand and aim it towards the source along with everyone else.

"Damn it!" a feminine voice says, "I'm so sorry. I thought you were Geth or one of those Varren."

Shepard approaches the girl as I sit on the ground gently and remove my wrist pieces. Drago joins me.

"Need help?" he asks. I just ignore him, but that doesn't stop him, "_Krasavitza_?"

"Not in the fucking mood." I reply while removing my left wrist guard carefully. I'm actually just switching my Omni-tool to my left arm and putting my blades on my right, but none-the-less, my left wrist hurts _really_ fucking bad.

"Sorry, did I hurt you?" he asks while gently grabbing my left wrist. I brush it off with my right hand.

"Really, Drago, go do something else." I'm trying to refrain from going ballistic on him, "Like, listen to their conversation or something."

"It's my fault you're hurt," he signs deeply while removing his helmet. He shows genuine concern, which is something I didn't think existed in him, "let me take care of it."

I sigh and offer my hand. He removes the armor piece and swaps them for me, while picking up a piece of wooden debris, breaking it in half. He puts the two pieces inside my left wrist piece to keep it from bending as much. It actually feels a bit better now that it's not all bendy.

As Drago helps me up, I see Shepard and his group finishing up talking to the girl. I look around the area. It's like a huge open area but with a thin layer of water on the floor below us, since we're on the raised edges. Smells like shit, covered in rubble and is moldy, but lacking the grey. Heh, guess the whole place… wait… what the? The fuck?

I spin Drago around and make him face the pack of Varren charging for us and push him forward as I eject my wrist-knives and charge into the pack as Shepard and his group just notice what's going on here. I hear pistol fire from Drago as everyone else attempts to get their guns out quickly. There's like twelve of them!

Shepard and Co. take the right hand side as Drago and I, mainly me and my wrists but whatever, take the left. Where the majority is. Of course. I pounce on one but it dodges and I roll onto my feet again to be grabbed by the right wrist. I fling it around until it loosens its grip as one bites my left leg.

"Fuck!" I yell as I start kicking it with my right foot and stab the one previously biting my arm right in between the eyes. Mother fucker!

Scrambling to get this damn Varren off me, I roll in a full barrel-roll on the ground twice causing the Varren to be a bit dizzier. That's when I kick it off. As it yelps, I jam my wrist down its throat and throw it away. There's like eight of them over here and my damn leg is bleeding! I barely even noticed. This is why I love and hate adrenaline. I spring up, with a bit of pain albeit, but I manage to charge over to one. As I'm about to swing, it pounces on my chest and its huge jaws clench onto my helmet. I glance my H.U.D to notice my shields are almost gone, and I'll be PISSED if my helmet breaks. I flip over so the Varren is on its back, making it let go immediately, and I head butt it about six times. As I'm about to jam my blade into it, another one of the fuckers grabs my arm and viciously pulls it back. Oh, fucking... Come on!

"Wait! Stay still!" I hear Shepard say. Fuck that! I try and kick it off, but it infuriates it more, causing it to pull harder.

As I'm about to punch it with my left hand, not caring about the painful consequences, I see the Varren's head spout blood as it leaves a nice little bullet hole between its eyes. Nice job, Shepard. I shake off the remains and use the water on the floor to wash off the saliva and blood mix from my armor.

"Are you insane?!" I hear yell from behind me, following along with footsteps trampling through the water making splashing noises.

"Just a bit," I say while getting up. The Varren bite isn't too deep. Sure, it hurts, but not crippling like my wrist, "And I'm fine."

"You're bleeding an-"

"_Fine._ I'm fine."

"Look at yourself, you're not fine!"

"I'm fucking fine!" I didn't realize I was raising my voice until everyone stops moving and stares at me, "Sorry. I'm just… Nothing is wrong. I'm not hurt, just bleeding. It won't affect my performance at all, Commander." I finish washing it off and start walking toward the only exit to this place. Everyone follows in silence.

If things get fucking worse, I don't know how I'm going to keep standing.

###################################

**Oh, Kitana, how you just love trouble. I know I seem dead at some moments, but I'm not. Don't worry. I might be for a while, though. Tomb Raider is coming out. That's all I need to say. And Bioshock: Infinite… and Injustice (Which I CANNOT wait for! Did you see Harley Quinn? And… and Shayera! Oh, Diana too! Bruce Wayne… and.. and… Sorry. My geek side. I'll contain that, don't worry.) So yeah. All the money I've been saving is going down the drain because SOMEONE decided "Lolololz, Rogue loves all these games. LET'S RELEASE THEM ALL AT ONCE! MWAHAHAHA!" Well. Something along that. Anyway: Suggestion? Questions? Comments? Constructive Criticism? Leave a review or PM me. Danke, mates!**

_**-Rogue**_


	15. Chapter 15 - Feros pt 3

Chapter 15

I turn off external sounds as everyone slides across a chest-high wall on a bridge-like area. There's two Geth kneeling before… I have no idea actually. An orb of light, maybe? There's thick wires spewed everywhere, and I'm still laughing about that Krogan in my head. Yeah, before we got here, there was a pissed-off Krogan. He wanted to turn some VI's 'virtual ass into actual dust.' Some funny shit.

"What're they doing?" I ask Ash. She, normally, knows what's going on.

She shrugs. Oh, hah. She can't turn off external sounds like me. I'm just speaking to her through my helmet, it directly transfers it to hers instead of actually making a noise. Full-face helmets for the win!

I see Shepard narrow his eyes before slowly getting out of cover and raising his sniper, Ash follows suit. I peek my head above to watch, and I assume Wrex and Drago do too. They focus, making sure it's a shot on the head. Once Shepard nods, both snipers fire simultaneously, taking both Geth out. Nice!

Wrex stands up and looks around the room, mainly at the giant claw-like things, "Looks like they're using these claws to anchor that ship to the side of the building."

"Oooh, real subtle of them." I say while rolling my eyes, "Giant claws. Nope, not an attention tracker."

"Subtle as a boot to the face." Ash says while smiling, "How do we cut the power if it's coming from the ship?"

"We could find a weak spot," Drago says while just a hairline away from touching the wires, mainly inspecting them. He probably thinks they'll shock him. "Maybe someone further down the line._ Bog_, this is confusing."

Shepard starts walking into a hall, where we all follow. That's when I see a sparking stray wire. I have to touch it. Less sparky when you look closer, more like tiny electric bolts spewing off it. Yep, defiantly touching it.

"What do you think you're doing?" I hear a heavily Russian accented voice ask from behind me. Well, shit.

"Touching it." I say while retracting my finger and palm armor. I'm a bit tired, anyway.

He grabs my arm as I'm reaching for it, "_Net_, you're going to keep walking."

"You don't understand, this is good." I attempt to explain. Good liar, bad explainer. That's just te-fuckin-rrific.

He sighs, "_Net_, this is bad." He says while releasing my hand and pushing me forward, "Let's go. We have to catch up."

"Fine" I say while making it look like I'm about eject my armor pieces, I quickly reach for the wire. That's when it hits me: Best. Mistake. Ever. I can feel the electricity coursing through me. It's not like when I used to get shocked back at my cell. No, this is different. They had to have been doing something. This makes me a lot more energetic, as if it injected energy into me.

I just stand there for a moment. Taking it all in, but it's soon interrupted as someone pulls me back and away from the wire, "Fucking Drag- Oh." Oh is all I can mutter. It's not Drago, Ash, and defiantly not Wrex.

"What do you think you're doing?" Shepard asks, attempting to keep his calm. Better not burst his bubble, so I eject my hand armor and stretch a bit. Damn, that felt good. Made the pain in my leg disappear for a moment.

"I was… Uhm..." I can't lie if he just saw me. Well, shit. "I was testing something."

"That was dangerous." He says with a concerned, but stern look on his face.

"I'm fine." I say while bouncing on the balls of my feet. Hurts a bit from the bites, but it's okay. Nothing major.

He just sighs and walks with me to the rest of the group, who are consist of a clueless Ash and Wrex, and a very pissed-off Drago. Hm. Interesting. Why's he so angry I put my life into danger? I didn't do anything to him.

* * *

"Oh, look here," I say while running my hand along a screen, "A repair ticket. In the middle of a fucking Geth camp. What's this damn machine even do?" I haven't bothered to read it. I'm too pissed that Drago refused to let me fight in the damn fire-fight. Fuck him.

Wrex looks at me quizzically, "It closes the shuttle bay door."

Shepard looks at the machine a bit closer – as in actually reads it. I glance at the repair ticket attached to the console.

_The damn doot to the shuttle bay is fried again. Works fine id the PSI is 30 or lower, and the safety shut-off kicks in if the PSI gets above 34. But if the PSI is in the 31-34 zone the door slams down with enough power to shear through a metal I-beam. Somebody fix this thing before one of my team loses an arm in that thing!_

I didn't realize Ash had been behind Shepard as he read it, and I assume she was reading it too. I have no idea what to do, since all I paid attention to was a numbers. I saw 'PSI' and numbers get used a lot, then I just lost interest.

I walk up to Drago as the rest attempt to figure out the damn puzzle. He's pissed and I'm curious. That's just about as far as my interest goes with him right now. He's just angrily leaning up against the wall, doing something on his Omni-tool.

"The fuck is your problem?" I ask. I sounded a lot less asshole-ish in my head. Whoops.

He doesn't even turn to look at me, "We're talking when we get back on the Normandy." He's still just looking at his Omni-tool, barely acknowledging me.

"Why not here?" I snap back.

"Because we're going to talk on the Normandy. Somewhere private." He replies, a bit calmer than me. If he didn't make me fucking stay out of battle, this wouldn't be happening. His fault.

"Yeah, well… Fu-"

"Hell yes!" I hear Shepard say while stepping back from the shuttle bay closer thingy.

As I turn to face him, I hear metal slam into something. Then there's the explosion, which scares the living shit out of me. Didn't expect that one. The whole room starts to shake shortly after, causing everyone – except Wrex – to attempt to maintain balance. The only one who failed was me. Of course. Luckily, everyone was too busy being shook around to notice.

Ash dusts off her armor, "That's the way. Doors will be open now. We can go deal with that Thorian thing."

"Uh… Little warning next time?" I ask while dusting off my left arm, since using my left wrist isn't smart right now.

Wrex laughs, "This is my kind of mission. Kill a bunch of Geth, and end things off with a huge crash!"

Just as I'm about to make a sly remark, I hear a beep followed by a notification in my helmet. It's Joker, presumably on the Normandy. "I repeat, Normandy to shore party. Are you reading? Anyone there? Normandy to shore party. Come on, Commander, talk to me!"

Shepard, obviously, takes the liberty of responding, "Is that you, Joker? What's going on over there?"

Another beep, "We're in lockdown here, Commander. Something happened to the colonists. They're banging on the hull, trying to claw their way inside the ship. They're freaking out!"

Shepard paces back and forth, "They can't do any real damage," He sighs, "We're on our way back. Just hold your position."

Again with the beep. This is seriously getting annoying. "Uh… yeah. Okay. Well, we'll just wait right here for you, Commander." Joker replies nervously.

Shepard regains his posture as leader, "This place will be crawling with Geth in a minute. Keep together and we'll get out of here in one piece." I could get out of here alone. Well, theoretically I could.

* * *

"I'm impressed, human." Wrex says as he leans forward in his seat, "You got in the Mako without needing to be dragged."

"My name is Kitana." I reply. I didn't have time to argue, there was debris falling from cracks in the ceiling. If we didn't leave, we'd all die.

"Didn't change your attitude, though." He grumbles as he leans back into his seat smirking.

"That's a pretty name." says that girl from earlier. I forgot she was sitting here. She's between me and Drago, since there's only 4 seats. I just ignore her until Ash coughs unnaturally loud, signaling me to make a reply.

"Thanks." I mutter. She just awkwardly adjusts herself in her seat.

The rest of the trip consisted of flipping, hard turns, and fucking up my stomach. Yep normal Mako ride.

When we finally arrive, we hear some radio chatter, "Hello? Is there anyone? Is there anyone picking this up?" says a feminine voice

"Get away from that radio!" responds a snobby man. For some reason, I'd rather kill then help him. Something in his voice…

The girl in the Mako shoots up, "What was that all about?"

The radio signal comes back. Static starts it off, "… this is Juliana Baynham of Feros colony. Please help us…" Then there's some more static.

The kid next to us goes wide-eyed. "That's my mom. Stop. Stop the rover." Damn, she's serious. For what? I don't understand how family works.

Shepard pulls the rover to a serious halt, causing my back to slam into the wall. Not helping my stomach. The kid looks just peachy as she jumps out and darts to the entrance. Shepard, Ash, and Wrex follow. Drago sticks behind with me as I step out of the Mako and sit next to the tire, leaning on it. Where's this? Zhu's Hope or some shit like that, I think. Damn, I hate the Mako. The ride here was a lot more brutal, so it feels a hell of a lot worse than before.

Drago takes a seat next to me. I awkwardly move to my right as he removes his helmet. Now that I think of it… "It's private." I mutter as I weakly turn my head towards him.

"Look, _Krasavitz_, Why not just wait until the Normandy?" He sighs, "What's with your persistence, anyway?"

Now that I think of it, I have no idea. "I… I don't know." I mutter as my stomach feels like it's going to fucking explode. Seriously, what the hell?

He moves closer to me, and since I'm on the edge of the tire, I don't bother to move away. Why am I so concerned about him, anyway? I just shrug it off and lean back. They'll come get us when they need us. I just turn off sounds on my helmet, so I hear complete silence, and rest my eyes shut. I'll just wait until Drago wakes me up… yeah… that's it. He'll… shake… awake… and then I drift off into a well-deserved nap.

Good times ahead, like napping in a Geth Warfield.

* * *

**Yeah, so... Who played the Citadel DLC? Fun, no?**

** Garrus's romance was awesomesauce, by the way. **

**Also, as a side note, soon... Oh so very soon we'll be off this planet. Oh OH so very soon. Well, I hope so at least.**

**Danke for reading, mates!**

**-Rogue**


End file.
